Valor
by Ballistic Babydoll
Summary: Jack Morrison didn't have much to live for after the disbanding of Overwatch. So he did what he had always done, he fought. But when his fight with the Los Muertos gang goes south he finds himself seeking out the help of an old ally. Maybe he did have something left to live for after all. Soldier 76/oc Reaper/oc (Originally posted on AO3)
1. Chapter 1

Jack cursed himself for being so reckless. He had gone into that fight with the Los Muertos gang without considering civilians as a variable. It was a rookie mistake, and not one he would allow himself to make again. In the past he wouldn't have hesitated to save that girl in exchange for losing his tail on the gang. This time he had hesitated a fraction of a second.

The pain stemming from his abdomen was worsening by the minute. He couldn't simply go to a doctor, though, as he was still trying to remain under the radar. Angela Ziegler's location was currently unknown so she certainly couldn't help him. Therefore, he was on his way to the only person who could.

Morrison hissed as the bus hit another pothole, jostling its passengers. Bullet wounds he could deal with, knife wounds he could sew up. If he had broken ribs, damaged organs, or was bleeding internally that was another story. He had seen many wounds in the war, but he couldn't diagnose himself based on the stabbing pain in his chest alone.

With a grunt he administered another medical stim pack to keep himself stabilized and to help with the pain. It would be a long way to Portland. Almost three days if the bus schedule was right.

She was the first person he had tracked down after his fight with Reyes. After the world tore down everything he had helped build.

He hadn't expected her to settle down to a normal life. How could she? Almost as long as he had known her she had been a part of Overwatch. Then again, she wasn't a soldier like he was. This was his life. After a few days of waiting and watching her from a distance he decided it wasn't fair if he tried to bring her back into the fight.

Jack rested his head against the cool glass of the window, the rattling of the old bus was far different than the smooth hover cars that he had become used to. Taking an old bus line was much safer though, and he wasn't about to take any more risks by trying to get on a plane.

He looked at the time. It had been almost ten hours already, and he was beginning to feel drowsy.

Dammit, why did she have to settle down so far away?

As the bus rocked he slowly gave into the urge to close his eyes, if only for a minute. He wasn't sure if he was even ready to see her again. Things had been...complicated in the past. He couldn't help but remind himself that he was supposed to be dead. She was smart, though, and he had no doubt that she didn't believe all the rumors after his body never turned up.

Jack drifted off to sleep as he wondered what the hell he would say when he showed up on her doorstep.

* * *

It was two A.M. and three days later when he arrived in the city. By the time he located her apartment and made sure he wasn't being followed, it was nearly three.

The night air was cool on his face as he made his way up the old, rusted fire escape. Despite the chilly weather his skin felt like it was on fire, his jacket clinging to him uncomfortably, sticky with sweat. Jack grimaced as the rusted metal squealed under his weight. He hoped the whole neighborhood didn't hear it.

All of the lights in her apartment were off as he came to her window on the third floor. The lock was old, and it didn't take much to jimmy it open with his pocket knife.

Even in his injured state he was fairly quiet as he moved through the house, searching for her room. His head spun slightly as he slipped through a hallway, checking every corner. As the thought of her privacy crossed his mind he quickly dashed it away and reminded himself that this was an emergency.

Finally, he seemed to find the right door. He could barely make out a large bed with the little bit of light from the street that filtered in through the curtains. Jack forced himself to even his breathing and move slowly so as to not startle her.

He gritted his teeth together. God, his side hurt.

As he moved closer to the bed and his eyes adjusted to the darkness he found that it was empty. In the space of a second he heard a slight sound like the whispering of wind before the telltale click of a gun.

He turned his head to find the shadow of a figure on his left, aiming their handgun at his head. Jack rose his arms slowly in surrender.

"Wight? I see you haven't changed."

"I haven't heard that name in a while."

He watched her shadow quietly, waiting for her to lower her gun.

It was a few heartbeats before she spoke up again. "Is it really you, Jack?" Her tone spoke volumes of how unsure she was that he was really alive.

"It's me, V." He couldn't help the warmth that crept into his voice despite his pain. It was just so damn good to hear her voice again.

A moment passed before she flung herself into his arms. It hurt like all hell, and he couldn't help but push her away before she squeezed him. A small noise of discomfort escaped him as he grasped his side.

"Jack, are you okay?"

There was a slight sound of wind again before the bedroom lights flicked on, nearly blinding him with his visor set for night vision.

"Give me a little warning, would ya?" He grumbled as he shielded his eyes with a hand and adjusted his tactical visor accordingly.

"What did you get yourself into this time?" Her hands were already peeling off his jacket and moving him towards the bed.

He obliged, knowing that with her everything tended to be a flurry of words, thoughts, and movement. Her mind worked quickly, enhanced by an omnic parasite on her spine. It had made her a great agent, but she often had to slow herself down in a social setting.

Morrison laid back onto the bed, watching as Valor grabbed a hair tie and pulled back her white locks into a bun.

"You haven't aged a day," he commented more than a bit breathlessly. The room was slowly beginning to spin again. He had exerted himself far too much just trying to make it here.

"Yes, well, there has to be some upside to having an omnic parasite stuck on you," her tone was very matter of fact as she slid her freezing hands up his shirt and across his stomach.

His muscles tightened as her skin met his own burning flesh. Jack watched as she closed her eyes and concentrated, one hand slowly making its way up to his ribs.

"It doesn't feel good, Jack." Her touch was extremely light and barely hurt as she moved, eyes still closed. "You really got yourself into some deep shit this time, but you can tell me what happened later."

"'Preciate it, since you and I both know what comes next," he grumbled.

"Yeah, sorry." She opened her eyes, giving him a small half-smile. "Ready?"

He nodded. The sooner this was over the sooner he could rest and catch up with the first friend he had seen in years.

Morrison watched as Valor pressed her hand against his flesh and phased through it. Her eyes were closed again in concentration, and as the minutes passed he could see sweat forming on her brow.

The whole time there was an intense stabbing sensation in his chest as she fused her fast healing cells with his at a molecular level.

The process seemed to last forever, and yet took no time at all. As the pain faded he could see Valor panting and clutching at the base of her spine.

"It hasn't gotten any easier?" The question was rhetorical based on her reaction. He, however, felt wonderful. His whole body felt invigorated and there was absolutely no pain. He had only felt this once before.

"I'm going to bed before I collapse. We'll talk in the morning, Morrison." She didn't wait for a response before turning off the lights and nearly stumbling out of the room. Jack had no doubt that he would find her on the living room couch in the morning.

He felt a little bad about stealing her bed, even though it was the softest bed he had slept on in a while. Jack pulled off his mask, that Valor hadn't bothered with, and placed it on the bedside table. As he pulled the sheets over him he was almost immediately enveloped in her scent. The pillow smelled like her almond shampoo, a smell he thought he had forgotten.

Jack had to remind himself that Valor had used his surname, though, which meant he was definitely in a bit of trouble. He would certainly have a lot of explaining to do in the morning.

* * *

Morrison woke up after about six hours of sleep feeling completely refreshed. His old aches seemed to have disappeared overnight, no doubt due to Valor's healing. Too bad it never lasted.

Daylight streamed in through a crack in the curtains and illuminated the room he had barely seen last night. He walked through the musty apartment, dust particles floating downwards in the sunlight caught his eye. It looked like Valor had tried to spruce it up as best she could, but plaster still peeled in places and hairline cracks could be seen on the scuffed wood floors. He didn't mind, as the place was very clean and looked rustic and cozy.

Jack found the living room with ease, noting as he entered that Valor was still fast asleep on the couch. He had no doubt that she needed the rest and so he left her undisturbed.

He moved from the living room to the kitchen, the rooms separated only by an island table. Morrison busied himself with making a pot of coffee. Valor wouldn't mind if he made himself at home, after all, they had been very close before Overwatch was disbanded.

Morrison ran a hand through his short hair, glancing back at the couch where she slept as he waited. She still looked so young it was almost painful. Angela had predicted that she would age slower than most humans, but he had never imagined this. She was actually only a bit younger than him, but still, looking at her made him feel like an old man.

After a few minutes he had fixed his coffee to his taste and sat in the loveseat across from the couch. Seeing Valor again was like nostalgia had sucker punched him. There were many memories from his past that were fading, but the day he met Valor was not one of them.

He was already the commander and poster boy of overwatch, Reyes was still like a brother to him, and he was still filled with the naïve exuberance of youth.

One day a file had crossed his desk detailing the murder of several criminals in Long Beach, California. Reyes had been the one to present the information to him, telling him about how this could be a vigilante that Overwatch could use. There was only one drawback, their vigilante had made a bad name for them self when a bystander was caught in the crossfire.

The police were too afraid to do anything about it after rumors went around saying that the killer was actually a ghost of a woman seeking revenge on the evil. All of the front pages of the local newspapers further spread the rumors of the "Wight of Long Beach". Morrison didn't believe in all that, but he did believe that he had to do something about this "ghost" before things got further out of hand.

Jack had decided that he and Reyes would track her down covertly and offer her a place in Overwatch. If even half of the rumors were true she would be a valuable asset.

It had taken them nearly half a month to track her down to a warehouse where they cornered her.

"Can't believe how long this is taking," Jack grumbled, casting a sidelong glance at Reyes.

They were both battered and bruised from their very real and very alive opponent. Certainly she had some tricks that would make some people think she was a ghost, but then again walking through walls was not something most people could do. _That_ had certainly startled them at first. Well, that and the crying.

The woman had bursted into tears the moment she spotted them and ran, yelling something about not wanting to hurt them as they gave chase. The game of cat and mouse had gone on for quite some time.

Now they were crouched behind some crates, listening to the woman sob as she collapsed in the middle of the room on the side opposite of them.

"I changed my mind; this is definitely too much trouble, Morrison." He watched as Reyes readied his shotguns. "Should just put the poor thing out of her misery and be done with it."

Jack sent his friend a disbelieving look, unable to tell if he was joking or not. It was the first time he had ever doubted whether or not he knew Reyes' true character.

"Not an option," Morrison passed Reyes his gun.

"What are you gonna do? Soothe her with lullaby? C'mon, Jack."

He ignored the comment and stood before slowly walking around the crates. Before him he could see that the white haired woman had collapsed on her knees, facing them. Her head was bowed and sobs still wracked her body.

Jack took a few steps forward before she noticed him. He put his hands in the air to show her that they were empty. "Look, I just want to talk."

"I... can't..." She was struggling to speak. One hand was against the floor holding her up while the other clutched at her lower back. Strangely enough he couldn't remember he or Reyes injuring her there.

"Please, we honestly just want to help." Jack was slowly edging closer to her, being careful to sense if she was about to lash out.

"You can't help," she sobbed. "God it _**hurts**_ ," the woman emphasized with a whine.

Morrison was barely a foot away from her now, close enough to where he could have reached out and touched her. Instead, he circled around her.

"Make it stop, please. Kill me if you have to," she pleaded as he knelt down and gently pushed her hand aside. The black dress she was wearing was ripped and torn in places, but one long rip exposed all of her back.

He didn't know what he had expected, but a huge chunk of metal that seemed to have imbedded itself into her lower back was not it. The metal branched out from the base and traveled up her spine, nearly reaching her neck.`

"What happened to you?" He was careful not to touch the metal as his fingers ghosted over it. The shining material seemed to be giving off a bit of heat.

"I don't know," she sobbed. "I was in the hospital and there was this omnic and," her speech dissolved into indecipherable babbling.

Morrison didn't know what to do; his training had never covered something like this. He didn't need training, though, he was compassionate and caring and had been made the commander of Overwatch for a _reason_.

"It's going to be okay," Jack put his gloved hand on her shoulder. "I can't help you, but I know a doctor who can."

He began helping her to her feet, catching her when she stumbled and began clutching at her back again. Up close he could make out the delicate features of her face. She would have been beautiful, but dark circles framed her eyes, like she hadn't slept in days. Her hair was an unnatural white color, but was dirtied and unwashed.

"My name is Jack Morrison, and I'm sure your name isn't really Wight." He started a conversation to keep her mind off of whatever agony she was in; it was a common tactic that often helped soldiers from going into shock.

"My name is Valor," her voice was still strained, but she had at least stopped crying.

"Valor, this is Gabriel Reyes," he introduced his friend as they approached. "You're going to be okay now."

* * *

"I gave her an injection to help her sleep."

Jack leaned against the wall outside of the room where Valor was being treated, arms crossed as he watched Angela approach. "You find out anything?"

"Well she's been through quite an ordeal. What I could get out of her is that she was in a hospital being treated when an omnic came to her room. That was the last thing she could remember before the metal was on her spine. She said that after that all she could feel was pain. I think that affected her ability to sleep and lowered her susceptibility to whatever the omnic put on her."

Jack could tell Angela was worried. It was obvious that they had never seen anything like this before.

"I'm going to have Winston help me in an hour or so. The more people we have on this the better." Angela looked away from him, seemingly deep in thought as she crossed her arms and chewed on her bottom lip.

"It's already midnight, don't you think you should wait?"

Her gaze returned to him, expression conveying her seriousness. "The metal is growing up her spine at an exponential rate. I don't know what will happen if we don't stop it."

* * *

It was two days of nearly nonstop work for Angela and Winston before they were any closer to an answer.

As far as they could tell, the metal was some sort of omnic-organic parasite. It was meant to enhance the human body's abilities, but it seemed more malicious than mutualistic.

It was incredibly frustrating for Jack to just sit there and do nothing. So he did what he could. He dug up everything he could find about Valor.

It took a day before a file of her information was delivered to him. Her family was from California. Her father was in the military and died in combat before she was born. Her mother raised her alone and never remarried or had any other children. Her mother died when she was twenty. She had a pharmaceutical degree and was working at a clinic.

The information was very basic, but told him enough to get a better idea of her life before now.

He examined the picture that had been included. A cheery smile graced the face of the copper-haired woman who was being photographed at the beach. She looked so different that the woman he had come across in the warehouse, alive and happy rather than looking half-dead.

* * *

Valor awoke to the soft hum of medical equipment. She panicked for a moment and shot up into a sitting position before the sight of the blonde doctor reminded her where she was.

Dr. Ziegler was facing away from her and seemed not to notice that she had woken up.

The medicine she had been given was good, of that she had no doubt. It knocked her out more often than not and got rid of most of her pain. The only problem was that it seemed to wear off far too fast.

Over the past few days she'd only been woken up to eat, bathe, and to turn onto her stomach so that the doctor and her colleague Winston could get a better look at her back.

They didn't tell her much, which was gradually becoming more frustrating. As far as she knew this _thing_ was a parasite that some asshole omnic had put on her like she was some sort of science experiment. She wasn't so blind as to hate every omnic because of the actions of one, and Valor knew that humans were just as bad.

Something was wrong, though. She could see it in the small worried looks Angela would send her when she thought she wasn't looking. They were also spending far too many late nights here with her than would be normal for simply studying the parasite.

After about a week they told her they were going to try to surgically remove it.

The night before her surgery Jack visited her. It was the first time she had seen him since he basically rescued her from whatever sleep deprived and horrible existence she had been living out.

* * *

A small knock at her door startled her, as Angela had left not ten minutes ago. She didn't know what to expect as she called for whoever was on the other side to enter.

Much to her surprise a familiar blonde head poked in through the door. It was only familiar because the man in front of her was the one thing that stood out in her blurry memories of the day he rescued her.

"I was wondering when I'd finally get a visit from you," she sent him a small smile and beckoned him to come into the room. Her pain medication and sleep meds were just beginning to kick in so she wasn't feeling quite as cross as she had been.

"Been kinda busy being a commander and all," he sent her a cheeky smile back, one that could brighten up a room.

"Yes, I've heard. Dr. Zeigler and Winston speak highly of you, Commander Morrison."

He took a seat in the chair by her bedside, that had never been used until now. "I'm not your commander, so it's just Jack."

"Well 'just Jack' what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

He rolled his eyes at her joke, and she couldn't help but giggle. Her expression soured though, when she noticed that the charming smile had left his face.

"Listen, Valor, there's something we haven't told you," his voice was gruffer as he spoke, head down turned and eyes avoiding hers.

Her heart felt like it skipped a beat at his words. With everything that had happened to her she wasn't sure she could take any more bad news. Deep down she knew what it was, had known what it was ever since this thing had attached itself to her. Valor didn't want to hear it. Hearing it just solidified it even more, but that didn't stop the words from leaving Jack's mouth.

She was dying.

In that moment her composure cracked. Valor had been faking smiles for over a week now, pretending that nothing was wrong when she could literally feel the metal growing further up her back. Would she completely lose herself if it succeeded? She could feel the whisperings in the back of her mind; slowly growing louder as if the omnic parasite was slowly taking over her conscious.

"Will the surgery work?" She tried and failed at keeping her voice from cracking. Immediately she felt a warm hand envelop hers. It was a small comfort, and at that moment she felt extremely connected to someone who was basically a stranger.

He proceeded to tell her a story about an overwatch agent, Lena Oxton. Listening to him explain the sad story was enough to keep her own tears at bay.

"Angela and Winston can fix anything," he finished as he explained the chronal accelerator that had been invented to help Lena.

Her medication was really wearing on her now, but it wasn't hard to see how much faith Jack had in his colleagues. It was almost enough to make her believe everything was going to be okay.

"Thank you, Jack, for being here." Her eyes were beginning to close even as the words left her mouth. Through the slight numbness of the pain medication she could feel his thumb rubbing soft circles on the back of her hand. "Will you be here tomorrow? After they fix me?"

"Of course I'll be here, and afterwards you can go home."

As Jack paced outside her room he reminded himself that this was why the war needed to end. This was why they needed peace.


	2. Chapter 2

Valor awoke in the late afternoon. Her shoulders were incredibly tense, and she kneaded them as she moved to sit up on the couch. She groaned softly as she took in her surroundings, wondering briefly where Jack was. There was a cup on the table before her that she hadn't left there, and she found only remaining dregs of coffee within it.

She stood, stretching her arms above her head and standing on her tiptoes. Valor was beyond exhausted, but just the thought of Jack being back was enough to get her moving. As she walked through her apartment she wondered briefly if he would be gone. It wouldn't surprise her, honestly. He hadn't come to her before, so what reason did he have to stick around now?

Her sinking heart lightened as she heard the sound of running water coming from her shower. Valor walked lightly into her room, where she was pleasantly surprised to find the bed had been made up nicely. Something caught her eye though, something she hadn't noticed last night.

Valor walked up to the bed, her fingers brushing over the large '76' on the jacket laid out neatly. After a moment her hand went to the visor next to it, gingerly picking it up and rubbing her thumb over the metal.

"Valor?"

Startled, she dropped the visor back onto the bed and spun around. Jack stood before her wearing a fresh pair of pants and a loose cotton shirt, his hair still wet from the shower.

Her eyes went from him and back to his jacket. "I should have known it was you. I had that feeling, whenever I would hear about Soldier 76 on the news," she said as she turned back towards the bed. Part of her wished Jack hadn't come back; him being here only brought up old thoughts and emotions that she had tried to throw away long ago. Back then she knew the risks, knew that either of them could die on a mission. Now she was living her days between being at work and coming home. She didn't risk her life on a daily basis. Valor still shied away from having friends though, knowing that anyone who got too close could be in danger.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, an all too familiar gesture. Valor bit down on her lip and tried to stop the tears that were welling up in her eyes. It wasn't until now that she realized how alone she had been; Overwatch had been her family for so long. She had simply been living her life on autopilot after Jack's funeral and the disbanding of Overwatch.

"I would have told you, but I wanted to give you the chance to live a normal life."

Valor put a hand over her eyes, willing her tears to stop coming. God, she had always been such a cry baby. "My life is anything but normal, Jack, even now."

His warm hand remained on her shoulder, thumb rubbing soft circles. "You still keep fightin'?"

She smiled slightly, his voice was so soothing it was hard to be upset. "I help where I can, but I can't be everywhere at once."

"That's my girl," he said softly, as if he had expected that she had continued her own bit of vigilante justice.

Her heart jumped into her throat at his words, at his tone. Valor hadn't felt butterflies in her stomach for many years, but then again Jack had always had that effect on her.

Finally she turned around, ready to face him.

She examined him closely for the first time in many years. He looked as if the years had not treated him kindly. Not that he wasn't as handsome as the day they first met, but there were scars she didn't remember him having and frown lines that came from years of hardship. His expression had gone hard as she observed him. She couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. Valor wished she could smooth the lines that furrowed his brow, and it took all of her effort not to reach out and do just that. Instead, she decided to save herself the heartache and asked the one question that had been on her mind.

"Are you going to leave?"

He reached his hand towards her face, as if to try and comfort her, but she shied away from his touch. His reaction only meant that he was going to leave again. "Please, Jack, just stay for a little while."

Valor watched as his frown grew, and she wondered if it was because she had kept him from touching her. Finally he nodded in acquiescence.

"I'll make us some lunch then, and we can catch up," she offered.

* * *

Jack paced back and forth in his office, waiting for news of the surgery. He ran a hand through his hair nervously. As each second ticked by he reminded himself that this was why they needed to end the war. Lives of the innocent were at stake, and Valor was just one of many.

At this point he couldn't concentrate on work, he had abandoned trying about an hour ago. Jack wished he knew why he cared so much. He hardly knew this woman, yet he was torn up about the outcome of this. Maybe it was because when he looked at her all he could see was complete trust in her eyes. Trust that he would help make everything okay.

God, he hoped he could make everything okay. He wasn't much of a commander if he couldn't.

Eventually an assistant commed him and let him know that Angela wanted to speak with him. His heart beat quickly as he walked down the halls of the base. If all went well he wouldn't have a new Overwatch agent, but he would have helped save another life.

Angela was in her office when he reached it, sitting at her desk. Her hands were folded in her lap and she was staring at the wall, seemingly deep in thought. He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad sign.

"Angela?" He grabbed her attention, and she blinked for a moment before her eyes focused on him.

"Sorry, Jack, it's been a long day. Please, sit down." She gestured towards the open chair before rubbing her hand across her brow.

He sat and immediately knew something was wrong. There was a palpable tension in the air, and Angela looked stressed rather than relieved. "It didn't work, did it?"

"Yes and no. We couldn't remove it, but somehow Winston was able to stop the growth. I don't-I don't know how," she began to fidget in her seat. Jack had never seen Angela look so incredibly uncomfortable. "I'm the doctor and I could barely do anything," she finally said, exasperated.

"But she's fine though? It's not growing anymore?" This was much better news than he was expecting.

"I think she'll be fine," Angela gave him a small smile. "She's resting now. Sorry, I should probably be a little bit more optimistic about this."

Jack shook his head. "You do so much here; there has to be something you're not good at. Just turns out that something is omnic parasites," he shrugged cheekily.

Angela rolled her eyes at him and huffed. "Alright, Commander, if you're all done here I'm going to run some more diagnostics and then go to bed. Valor should be awake tomorrow if you still want to talk to her about Overwatch. She should still have all of the same powers as before."

* * *

Valor awoke to the same hum of machinery that she had become accustomed to.

Her back still hurt a lot, but the pain was much more bearable than it had been in months. She had Dr. Ziegler and Winston to thank for that. The surgery hadn't gone as planned, to say the least. All she could remember of it was waking up during the surgery and steady waves of pain from her back, as if someone had sliced it open with a hot knife. Almost instinctually she knew it was the metal, burrowing deeper into her spine, preventing them from removing it without killing her. Tears and panic had set in almost immediately before Angela tried giving her another dose of anesthesia. One that would hopefully work this time.

While all of this was happening she could vaguely remember hearing Winston's voice. A lot of what he said didn't make any sense to her, but she caught something about the inside of the parasite being much like the inner workings of an Omnic. Which was something he could work with.

Valor looked around the room calmly now. Everything felt different somehow, as if a switch had been turned on and she could think clearly. Almost too clearly, in fact she could hear voices in the hallway that she couldn't hear before. The door was too thick for much noise to travel through, but now they sounded as if they were just across the room.

She spent the rest of her day adjusting to her newfound enhancements. Valor had no doubt that they were due to the parasite, and no matter how much she wanted it off it seemed like she was going to be its permanent host. That was something that she was going to have a little more trouble coming to terms with.

Around evening time a knock came at her door.

"Jack!" Valor exclaimed happily as he entered; she had been eagerly awaiting his next visit.

He gave her a funny look as he moved to sit, as if he wasn't expecting to see her in such high spirits. "Sorry I'm late, you wouldn't believe some of the paperwork they make me do."

"Ah, the glamorous life of being a Commander," she teased.

"Food's good, the pay's even better," he shrugged and stretched his legs out, "could be worse."

Valor couldn't help but giggle and smile brightly. It felt like ages since she had been this happy, and Jack was an easy person to be happy around.

"So what now?" She asked after a momentary lapse in their conversation.

"Well you could go home and try to forget you have huge hunk of omnic on you," he teased slightly, "or you could join Overwatch."

Valor hadn't expected that last part to leave his mouth. Join Overwatch? Was that the reason why he had found her in the first place?

"And have you as my Commander? How ever would I concentrate on my work?"

She could just die, right then and there. Had she really just said that? Flirt because you have no idea what else to say, that's a great idea.

Jack seemed as surprised as she was at her flirting, but played it off better. "I'm sure you'd find some way to manage," he sent her that charming smile again.

Valor knew her face was probably bright red right now. God, she wished he would stop having such a handsome smile.

"You have a lot of useful powers, you could help save lives."

His words shook her out of her embarrassment. How could she have forgotten? The parasite had allowed her to do some amazing things, and she hadn't even tried it out again. Valor wondered how much more she could do now that she was fully in control of her mental faculties.

She held her hand out in front of her, trying to remember exactly what it felt like before. Jack's eyes were on her, but she didn't pay him any mind. Valor concentrated on her hand, visualized what it would be like to simply move her hand through the bed, and then she did it. It came to her as easy as breathing.

"I still have my powers," she said quietly, and mostly to herself.

"Overwatch can help you figure out everything you're capable of, and you can help end this war in the process. You could be a hero, Valor."

She knew now why Jack was the Commander of Overwatch. The way he spoke just now was inspiring, and different than their small talk.

Growing up, she had heard her father called a hero more times than she could count. It hadn't ever made her want to be one though. Valor hadn't even been able to meet her own father, and she had seen how heartbroken her mother was that he had never come home.

How could she possibly want that for herself?

However, she was reminded of how it felt when she killed those criminals. It wasn't so much the killing aspect, but knowing that people would be safe from rapists and murderers was more than a little satisfying. Valor still felt guilty over the person she had unintentionally killed. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think about it. She told herself that it wasn't her fault, that she didn't have full control over her power, much less her own mind. It was barely enough to help her sleep at night.

If anything, she needed Overwatch to help her train her powers, and most importantly make sure that nothing like that ever happened again.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack wasn't sure which was worse, the silence or when she spoke. The silence reminded him that he couldn't think of what to say, while her voice reminded him of the past.

A past where they had worked side by side so closely that mutual feelings had formed, feelings that they couldn't allow to come to fruition. It was more than just the two of them, it was his title, the Commander of Overwatch. He was a hero, an idol, and was supposed to be a beacon of hope. He couldn't dedicate his life to anything else.

That's what he had told himself at least.

Now all of that felt so hollow. Both of their excuses had simply been that they were too afraid to lose each other to try, and in the end they had lost each other anyways.

Jack watched as Valor pulled a pan out of a cupboard. "Is grilled cheese okay with you?" She asked. "I really need to go grocery shopping."

"That's fine," he mumbled from his spot on a stool at the table.

His heart thundered in his chest as he watched her move around the kitchen. This all felt so normal. Jack's life the past few years had been spent in cheap motels, constantly on the move. This was so different than what he was used to, and it reminded him too much of what could have been.

A picture frame caught his eye, it had been put face down near the corner of the table. He looked to make sure that Valor was busy with something else before snatching it up. He was greeted with Valor's smiling face, as well as his and Gabriel's. His younger self grinned up at him as his heart clinched. The three of them had been so close at the time of this picture, taken after a successful mission in Greece.

This was all too much for him.

Jack put the picture back on the table, facedown as it had been. "I need some air," he stood and left the room, glancing back briefly before pulling the door open and leaving the apartment. He didn't miss the disappointed expression that crossed Valor's face as he walked out.

He walked down the flights of stairs quickly, until he made it out of the apartment complex and into the chilly evening air. His breath fogged as he made a brisk pace to walk around the block. Jack needed to move, he needed to occupy his mind with something other than her.

Coming here had been a mistake. Things weren't the same anymore, and he thought he had accepted that. Now that he had seen Valor again though he was re-evaluating what his life had become. He had already given up so much of his life for the sake of others, and never took a moment to consider what he wanted.

Right now he wanted to go back into the warmth of that apartment and take Valor into his arms. He was afraid though, afraid of taking that plunge from which he couldn't return. If he gave himself to her now, there would be no coming back.

Jack was torn, but he walked back to the apartment, feeling at least a little more calm than when he had left. Deep down he knew he couldn't stay here, but a part of him hoped he could pretend for just a little while.

* * *

"You'll be working underneath Captain Reyes for now on."

"Wait, what?" Valor was dressed in her brand new blue jumpsuit, complete with an Overwatch patch on her right sleeve. It felt good, as well as very official. Something she wasn't quite used to.

"Is that a problem, recruit?" She knew Jack was trying to sound serious, but it had little effect with the huge grin that was plastered across his face.

"I just, uh, thought I'd be working with you, Jack." Commander Morrison, she quickly reminded herself, that's what she had to call him now. He didn't correct her though.

Jack leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head as he swiveled it back and forth. "As much as I would like a pretty face on the team I think you're better suited to Reyes."

She felt her neck grow warm as he spoke. Ever since she had accidentally flirted with him he had done nothing but tease her and flirt back. It was almost maddening how often it happened.

"Reyes leads Blackwatch, a different sector of Overwatch. It's more of a covert op team, and your skills seem better suited to them. I can re-evaluate it once you've trained and figured out your powers, but for right now I think it's the best place for you."

Valor wanted to argue more, but she felt that her position was precarious enough as it was. She was only a recruit after all, not even a fully fledged agent. She left Jack's office feeling a little more unsure of herself than when she had entered. The only thing to do now was to find Reyes and introduce herself.

The Overwatch headquarters was huge, and she was trying very hard not to lose her way. Jack had briefly mentioned the Blackwatch sector but hadn't even told her where to find it. She could have asked around, and probably should have. Her heightened senses combined with the crowded hallways and hundreds of conversations were beginning to overwhelm her though.

She was just about to give up her search when she caught sight of a tall figure, one she recognized from somewhere. Valor stood there for a moment as she tried to make the pieces click together in her mind. He just looked so familiar, and for some reason she had his build connected to the name Reyes.

"Captain Reyes?" Her voice felt small as she approached the man in hope that her instincts were right. "I remember you!" She smiled as the man turned around. Her memories of him were hazy, but she could remember a little bit of his face from the day Jack had found her. "Thank you for helping save me with Commander Morrison."

His straight face didn't crack into a smile as she had expected, and instead he looked her up and down as if sizing her up. Her mouth felt suddenly dry under his scrutiny. Her emotions must have played clearly across her face, because Reyes finally broke into an amused smile and patted her shoulder. It was only then did she realize he had been teasing her.

"Don't look so serious," he laughed.

"Do you do this to all new recruits?" She couldn't help but pout pathetically.

"Oh darlin', you have no idea," a country accent drawled from behind her.

Valor spun on her heels to be met with a sly grin and a cowboy hat. The man was very young, much younger than she was. He might have even been a teenager. Did Overwatch even take teens?

She shook herself from her thoughts. Just in time for Reyes to introduce the newcomer. "Valor, this is Jesse McCree. He'll be working and training alongside you."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, miss." He tipped his hat and gave her a small wink.

Valor couldn't help but think that this was going much different than expected. She had thought Overwatch would be a bunch of stoic soldiers, but each new person she met continued to prove her wrong.

"Enough introductions," Reyes ordered, not unkindly. "Jesse's had much more practice than you, so you have some catching up to do. We can start at the firing range before doing some endurance training."

Valor felt extremely uncomfortable walking next to the two men as they made their way to the firing range. She had never held a gun before in her life, and she didn't want to be judged based on her shortcomings. God, what had she gotten herself into?

She trudged behind them, wondering briefly what it would be like if Jack was training her instead. Valor had joked about not being able to concentrate around him, but in all honesty she wouldn't have minded the distraction. The commander was, in a word, hot. Really fucking hot. Her brain went wild thinking about his arms around her, teaching her how to hold her hands on a gun. His chest would be pressed against her back, and she would be able to feel his breath on her neck.

"Here ya go, sweetheart." McCree's voice broke her out of her fantasy, his hand holding out hearing protection as well as eye protection.

Valor felt her face grow warm as she scrambled to grab the gear from him. Damn her overactive imagination. She supposed it had been a long time since she had even felt like herself. It was hard to even remember how long the parasite had been affecting her.

Reyes went through a long speech about gun safety for her benefit and, while it had been very informative, she could see McCree getting restless. Valor felt like she was disrupting the whole flow of their dynamic.

"Get out there," Captain Reyes mumbled to Jesse, "I want to see improvement from your shots yesterday. Valor, with me."

He led her over to a rack of weapons, holding everything from rifles to pistols smaller than her hand. "Anything catching your eye?" Valor had to double take when a smirk crept onto Reyes' face.

By now she was really beginning to get tired of blushing. Jesse she could write off, as it seemed from her short conversation with him that flirting and endearments were ingrained into his speech. Something was different about Reyes though, something she couldn't quite place.

"Something small, I think? A handgun?" She said unsurely. Valor felt completely out of her depth.

"Sure," Reyes grabbed a single pistol with a long barrel off of the rack and handed it to her.

It wasn't long before she had her safety gear on and was standing in a stall next to McCree's, a virtual target shimmering before her.

She watched Jesse for a minute as he fired off six shots in succession. Valor was amazed at how quickly his hands moved, it was as if he has been born with a gun in hand. It made her wonder even more about his age.

"Focus on yourself, Valor," Captain Reyes instructed.

She listened and followed his directions on how to hold her gun and how to stand. When she finally readied it he took a moment to kick her feet slightly further apart and then grasped her hands to adjust her grip. It actually surprised her at how patient he was being, and she found herself wondering if he was as menacing as he had first appeared.

"You ready?"

She nodded and turned the safety off. Valor's heart was pounding in her ears, but she readied her gun until the target was in its sights. Slowly she released her breath as she had been instructed, and then fired.

At first she was surprised by how little recoil the gun had, then she noticed that her shot hadn't been far off target. She adjusted her aim slightly. Valor didn't know how, but it was almost as if she could tell exactly what she needed to do differently without even thinking about it. Her next two shots rang out in succession, both of them through the head of the target.

She could feel the metal on her back growing warm to the touch, as if it were working harder in order for her to process so many subtle movements and other factors at once. Her spine ached slightly as she sent a proud grin towards her captain.

A small smile spread across his face. "Again," he ordered.

* * *

Jack opened the unlocked apartment door and was immediately met by the smell of something burning. Confused, he rushed to the kitchen and saw nothing but a blackened grilled cheese sitting on a hot pan. He moved across the kitchen and turned the stove off.

"Valor?" He called out. What happened while he was gone? He hadn't even been gone that long.

A small snuffling noise caught his attention, and he turned to see Valor sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest and face buried in her arms. Her shoulders shook, and his heart fell as he realized she was crying.

Jack moved to kneel beside her, hand reaching out to rest on her head. He was surprised when she immediately moved into his embrace, face pressing into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered hoarsely as she curled against him. He was sorry for so many things. Sorry for not being with her while they were still in Overwatch together, sorry for not telling her he wasn't dead, sorry for leaving her alone, and sorry that he would have to do it again.

"I thought you were leaving," she cried, her voice muffled slightly from her face still being pressed against him. "I can't do it again, Jack, I can't lose you again." Her arms wrapped around him and she grabbed handfuls of his shirt in her fists.

"Shhh, it's okay." He rubbed her back gently. It was killing him to see her like this. Jack wrapped his arms around her, with one under her knees and hoisted her up. Her crying quieted as he moved her to the couch.

He sat them down and pulled her into his lap. Valor's tears had soaked into his shirt, but he didn't care. Jack cradled her head against him, wishing more than anything that he could make everything okay.

"I was there, you know?" She whispered softly, her warm breath ghosting against his neck. "I was just coming back from a mission when that explosion hit. I still dream about it. When they told me you were in it," her fingers grasped him tighter, "I dug through the rubble until my fingers bled and Reinhardt had to drag me away."

"Valor," he whispered her name quietly. He didn't know what to say, nothing he said could take back the years she had spent thinking he was dead.

"How many others know?" It seemed that her tears had stopped for the time being, and that was something at least.

"Ana is the only other person," he told her honestly. She had helped him disappear and stay that way when he had recovered from his injuries. He hadn't seen her since.

"Ana is alive too?" Her head rose, and he could see the surprise reflected in her red rimmed eyes. "If any more dead people come back to life I'm going to think there's an epidemic," Valor grumbled and rested her head back on his shoulder.

Jack's deep laughter rumbled through his chest as he rested his head against the back of the couch.

"It's not funny!" Valor pulled away from him and swatted his chest lightly.

This only made him laugh more. It had been so long since he had laughed, and his ribs began to ache once he found he couldn't stop.

Eventually his chuckles died down and he opened his eyes to find Valor beaming at him, her face slightly flushed.

"I missed you, Jack."

He ruffled her hair affectionately, "I missed you too."

"I'm sorry for crying on you like that. This has all been a bit too emotional for me," she mumbled and rubbed at her eyes.

"You don't have to apologize."

She gave him a small smile, "Let me at least finish making some food for us then."

Valor crawled out of his lap, and he immediately missed her presence. Jack sat there for a moment more, trying to rein in his emotions. She made it nearly impossible to think clearly, but he was determined to remain as unattached as possible. It was the only way he would be able leave again.

Something nudged his foot, and he opened his eyes to find Valor offering him a glass of wine. "Have you gotten faster?" He asked, a bit incredulously. He had only been sitting there for about a minute and she had already gotten a bottle of wine, a glass, and poured it for him.

"I'm just getting better with age," she said slyly and sent him a wink.

"Says the one who doesn't look like she's aged at all," he mumbled and accepted the glass from her.

Valor giggled, and Jack found that he was happy he could still make her laugh like he used to.

He was done with his first glass of wine when Valor sat next to him on the couch and put their plate of food on the table in front of him. She poured herself a glass of wine before filling his up again. "Sorry I don't have fancy steak or anything, I'm used to only serving one."

They sat on the couch long after they had finished eating, drinking glass after glass of wine as they reminisced about the past. As one bottle disappeared and Valor opened another they found themselves laughing more and more as they remembered the glory days of Overwatch.

"Do you remember that mission with Jesse?" She asked before taking another sip of her wine. Valor leaned against the armrest of the couch, her legs stretched out across his lap.

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific than that, sweetheart," the endearment rolled easily off of his loosened tongue, "we had a lot of missions with McCree."

"The one with the cow! You remember?"

Jack groaned and buried his face into his hand, "How could I forget? He nearly blew that entire op!"

Valor laughed, putting a hand over her heart. "I don't think I've ever seen him look so scared! A cowboy afraid of a cow, that was a good story." Her composure broke again and she dissolved back into giggles.

Jack admired her as she laughed. The wine was clouding his mind and his whole body felt warm and alive. He hadn't paid any attention until now, but Valor had worn nothing but a long sweater all day, and it was beginning to hike further up her thighs.

Had he been sober he would have stopped himself long before now. He had been absentmindedly running his hand up her calves as they spoke though, and he didn't want to stop there. Old urges returned, and he wanted nothing more than to familiarize himself with her body again.

"Jack?"

It was hard to ignore her pouting lips as she said his name. He was already hard and he hoped she hadn't noticed. "Sorry, I just-"

"I know," she interrupted, smiling a bit sadly. Valor moved her legs off of him and curled them underneath her. "I'll go to bed, make it easier on both of us."

He wanted to say no, to stop her as she stood and walked away. Jack just sat there though, heart aching as he wondered if this was the way it would always be between them.


	4. Chapter 4

It was late in the day when Valor finally made her way back to her bunk. Reyes had been keeping her later and later after training to make up for how far behind she was. She really wouldn't have minded, but the work was exhausting. She swore he was trying to push her body to impossible limits. Every day was packed full of training in combat, tactics, and most importantly her powers.

She worked constantly, even after her daily training was completed, to try and master what powers the parasite had given her. Valor had to take control, she couldn't risk losing herself and hurting another person, especially not her team.

Valor couldn't recall exactly when she had started feeling like a part of the team. All she knew was that it was about five months into her training and she cared for these people. McCree, Mirembe, Signh, Kimiko, and Captain Reyes, she trained with them every day. Afterwards, they would meet up in the mess hall to talk and joke while they ate dinner. The thing she loved most was that they accepted her. Valor had been worried that they would ostracize her because of the omnic parasite, but mostly it wasn't even mentioned.

"Valor!"

She was pulled from her thoughts by a familiar voice, and she stopped mid-stride to turn and face her commander. It had been a while since she had seen him, as they had both been busy with their own Overwatch business. She couldn't keep an embarrassingly large grin from creeping its way onto her face.

Jack was jogging up to her followed by two strangers, a woman with tanned skin and flowing dark hair, and a girl who looked so similar to her that she could have only been her daughter.

"Commander Morrison," she greeted him, trying to keep her tone as formal as possible.

"Valor, I'm glad I saw you, could you do a favor for me?" Jack seemed rushed, and his eyes kept darting back to the watch on his wrist.

"Of course, name it."

"Ana and I have an emergency meeting, do you think you could stay with Fareeha until we're done?"

Valor looked from Jack to Ana. She had only heard about his second in command in passing, but everyone had always spoken highly of her.

"Yes, sir. You can find us in my bunk when you're done."

Jack surprised her by grabbing her head in his hands and lightly kissing her forehead. "You're a lifesaver," he thanked her, as if she had done something incredibly important.

Valor could feel her face heat up as he and Ana departed, rushing in the direction of central command.

She looked down at Fareeha, trying to pull herself together. "Come on," she smiled, "I know which mess hall has the best ice cream machine."

* * *

Jack rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. There had been three more omnic attacks in the past week, two of which cost countless civilian lives. The result of the meeting had been nearly unanimous: they needed more agents.

There were currently fifteen teams spread out across multiple watchpoints around the world, and yet he was still being pressured to speed up their recruiting and training process. He had tried to argue that these recruits weren't ready for combat. If he sent them out into the field now he would be sending them to their deaths, and he would not abide by that. Ana had agreed with him, but their two votes could only go so far.

It had been decided that the current recruits would be put through an extreme combat situation before the end of the year, to prove that they could function as a team in the field.

He was furious at the decision, and had left the meeting as quickly as possible after it had ended, Ana in tow. Even if the recruits passed this test he still didn't believe that they'd be ready for real combat operations. The thought of his recruits losing their lives to this ill-conceived decision was too much.

"Jack, it'll be okay." Ana had caught up with him now. "If they aren't ready they won't pass the test, it's as simple as that."

"I don't like rushing them into this is all," he mumbled, "not when so much is on the line."

"They'll adapt, that's what they're being trained for after all," she reassured.

"Just hope it's enough," he sighed. Jack felt responsible for every single one of his recruit's lives, he couldn't let them down.

"Which way?" Ana questioned as they reached an intersection.

Jack led the way to the right, towards the general barracks.

"She's one of Reyes', isn't she?"

"Valor? Yeah, assigned her to him not too long ago." He had forgotten that before now she and Ana had never been formally introduced.

"And you like her?"

Jack was caught off guard by her bluntness, but then again Ana had never been one to beat around the bush. He had made the mistake of kissing Valor's forehead without even thinking about it, and he cursed himself for being so incredibly unprofessional. He knew better. "Reports on her training have been excellent," maybe he could actually play this off, "despite being added to her team late it looks like-"

"Really, Jack? How long have you known me?" He had stopped in front of Valor's room and Ana stood before him, crossing her arms.

"Look, I barely have time to sleep, much less fuck new recruits," he said exasperatedly. Jack hadn't meant to sound so cold, but he was exhausted and at the same time completely wound up from the meeting; he couldn't take this line of questioning much longer. He had a job to do, and he would do it. If he did anything less then people would die. He couldn't let Valor distract him.

There was a scraping sound as the barrack door slid open before them. Valor was standing in the doorway, a strained smile on her face.

Jack's heart dropped to his stomach. The walls of these barracks were paper thin, there was no way she hadn't heard him.

"Come on, Fareeha, it's time to go," Ana called into the room. Jack didn't miss the look of sympathy that crossed her face as she regarded Valor.

He could hear scrambling before Fareeha appeared in the doorway. "Can I borrow this?" She had a huge grin and was holding up a thick book for Valor to see.

Jack watched as Valor's smile softened and grew sincere. "Of course, and when you're done you can bring it back and we'll get more ice cream," she rubbed Fareeha's hair affectionately before the girl ran over to her mother.

"Thanks again for watching her," Ana held out her hand for Valor to shake, "and it was good to meet you."

"You as well, let me know if there's ever anything else you need."

He stood there awkwardly during the exchange, and when Valor's gaze finally met his he could see unshed tears forming in her eyes. Jack opened his mouth, an apology trying to make its way out.

"Goodnight, Commander."

The door slid shut before him.

* * *

Valor didn't want to cry, really she didn't, but as she lay in her bunk that night thinking about what Jack had said, her soft sniffling quickly turned into loud sobs. How could he say something like that about her? The fact that he had said it after flirting with her so many times and kissing her head only drove the stake further into her heart.

He had made her sound like she was nothing, just another new recruit, just another number.

It figured that this would happen right when she had finally started feeling comfortable in this place. She had felt important, as if her being here meant she was playing a vital role in the world. She had been a fool, she was just some new recruit for the commander relieve tension with whenever he had a chance.

She buried her face into her pillow, trying to muffle the sound of her crying from the rest of the barracks. Her heart ached as she wondered if she had misjudged Jack this whole time, his disarming smile working its magic.

Valor couldn't sleep until early morning, Jack's words echoing in her head long after she had stopped crying.

* * *

Valor woke up late the next day, her eyes slightly red from crying. She rushed to dress and throw on some makeup on to cover the redness and dark circles beneath her eyes. Captain Reyes was definitely going to chew her out for being so late.

When she arrived her team had already ended their workout and were heading to shower before whatever Captain Reyes had planned next.

Valor could see him, standing across the field that they used for training behind the headquarters, waiting for her. She approached cautiously, and McCree patted her back sympathetically as he passed her on his way back to the building.

Reyes looked intimidating, standing there with his arms crossed as he waited for her.

She didn't try to make any excuses, instead she tried to keep her head up and take whatever her captain was about to throw at her.

"Start running," his voice was so even and calm that it startled her.

"Sir?"

"Run, don't stop until I tell you to."

Valor hesitated a second more before doing as she was told, she didn't want to push her luck any further. She hadn't gone far when she noticed Captain Reyes heading back inside with everyone else.

Her first lap around the massive headquarters was a standard run to begin training on most days. It was only after she finished her fourth lap that her lungs were beginning to burn and she slowed down her pace, wondering when Reyes was going to come back out to stop her.

Four laps turned into seven, which turned into twelve. Her feet were killing her, and her spine felt like it was on fire. Valor knew she had only made it this far because of the parasite, and the fact that she relied on it so much was beginning to eat at her. There was nothing special about her other than a hunk of metal lodged into her back.

When she finally saw Captain Reyes walking out of the building she nearly cried in relief. Valor slowed her pace to a fast walk as he neared her, but even when he was within speaking distance of her he remained silent. Her body wanted so badly to stop moving, but he hadn't told her she could.

She kept running.

Valor couldn't help but wonder what the point of this was. She was only an hour late at most, but she had missed a full day of training because of this. She ran faster, fueled by all of the anger she felt towards Reyes and Morrison at the moment.

She was completing the end of another lap when her left knee gave out on her. Her momentum sent her rolling across the grass until she stopped, lying on her back. Valor bit her lip as she curled into a ball and cradled her knee in her hand, broken sobs threatening to escape her.

The heavy sound of boots running towards her reached her ears, and she buried her face into her arm. She couldn't let her captain see her like this.

Reyes' hand met her shoulder as he made her lie on her back again. Gently, he moved her hand so that he could look at her swollen knee.

"Didn't expect you to run all day," he mumbled.

Her eyes snapped open at his words, and she found he was looking at her. "You told me to, Sir."

Valor watched as he snorted with laughter and tried to cover his smile with his hand. "I told Jesse the same thing the first day he was late and I came back an hour later to find him smoking under that tree," he said and pointed at a large oak tree in the distance.

She couldn't help but smile as she imagined him casually leaning against the tree, smoking one of his cigars as a furious Captain Reyes approached him.

"I can't give you any special treatment, it's not fair to the others," he looked sympathetic as he told her this.

"I don't expect you to, Sir." Valor moved to sit up.

"Why were you late anyways?"

"Rough night," she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes.

"Anything I can do to help? I'm your captain, so you're my responsibility." His concerned frown made her feel a bit better.

It was good to know that her team was still there for her.

"Thanks for the concern, really, but I'm fine." She would be fine eventually, at least. "I'm just still having trouble adjusting is all."

Reyes nodded his understanding and stood before offering her his hand. "You'll be a good agent one day, Morales."

"What makes you say that?" She mumbled and took his hand. Valor stood, favoring her right leg as she met Reyes' gaze.

"You know how to follow orders. That'll keep you alive."

* * *

Valor was still limping slightly as she entered the mess hall for dinner. She would have to ice her knee later, but right now she was starving.

The dinner rush was already beginning to die down so the hall wasn't too terribly crowded. She got into line at the cafeteria style serving area and spooned some meat and potatoes onto her plate. The hot food smelled delicious as her stomach rumbled.

Valor moved to head towards the table where her team usually sat, but stopped in her tracks as she spotted Jack among them. It wasn't uncommon for him to eat and talk with her team and the others, however she knew exactly why he had chosen to sit there tonight.

Their gaze met a moment before she turned on her heel to walk out of the mess hall. She didn't want his apologies or his excuses, she just wanted to complete her training and do what she had been recruited for in the first place.

Valor's slight limp subsided as she strode out the double doors, head held high.

"Your task is simple, get the information and get out."

Valor stood next to her team as Captain Reyes briefed them on their mission. Jesse was standing next to her, smiling smugly with his arms crossed, as if he thought this was going to be as easy as a walk in the park.

There was so much pressure on them though, this would determine whether or not they became Overwatch agents. She could feel her heart racing in her chest as she nervously shifted from foot to foot.

"There are medics on standby, but you'll be using live ammunition." Reyes scanned their faces, "Stay sharp, and watch each others backs."

Valor took a deep breath. They could do this.

Captain Reyes brought them to the edge of a warehouse, inside has been constructed especially for this exercise. She had no idea what to expect. All she knew was that the brass of Overwatch was going to be watching them, Commander Morrison included. Valor refused to think about him though, she had a job to do.

"Whenever you're ready," Reyes said.

Valor watched as Singh set up a metal device in the corner, she didn't have to ask to know it was a teleporter to get them out safely. He had used it a dozen times in practice simulations and it had always gotten them out in the end.

Singh gave them a thumbs up as he finished tinkering with it.

"Ready to roll," Jesse said, and the doors slid open before them.

Valor took in her surroundings in a matter of seconds. The inside of the warehouse had been constructed to look like a city of broken and dilapidated stone houses, debris littered everywhere. She looked up towards the ceiling, which was high above them, a hologram depicting a blue sky.

"I'll scout ahead," she announced, and looked at her team for approval. They didn't have anyone appointed to leadership, so they worked together to make decisions.

There were sharp nods as the others made to take cover behind a broken wall.

Valor took off across the field, weaving in and out of stone buildings as her eyes scanned for any movement. She was about forty feet away when she heard the sound of mechanical whirring. It was so quiet that she was sure any other person wouldn't be able to hear it; it was no wonder she usually took the scouting position.

She waited a moment until the sound was moving away before peeking around the corner. Two non-sentient robot sentries were patrolling the hallway.

Valor headed back to her team. They would have to dispatch the sentries before they could move on any further, and she knew just how they would do it.

Her team perked up as they noticed her return, and stood at the ready. "Two sentries about forty feet from here in a choke point," she announced. "Jesse and I can take them out easily."

"Just tell me what to do, darlin'."

"Please just tell me you brought them," she sighed. They had been through this before.

With a grin he brought one of his flashbang grenades into sight and tossed it into the air before catching it. "Don't leave home without it," he winked at her, "I got cha'."

Valor couldn't help but grin as she rolled her eyes at him before motioning for McCree to follow her. They made good time even as they carefully picked their way through the crumbling homes. Valor stopped when the hallway was in sight, she could already hear the low whir again as the bots continued their patrol.

"Ready?" She whispered. "I'll go on that side, just make sure you stun both of them."

"I was born ready." He said that, but they had tried this sort of thing before and it had never worked. McCree's aim was off, her timing wasn't right, it was always something.

She could hear McCree's boots crunch on the dirt and gravel as he moved closer to the hallway. Valor pulled out her gun before pressing her hand to the stone wall of the building, it was surprisingly warm, and she wondered how precise the climate control was in this warehouse. As she stood there she closed her eyes and concentrated on listening. The sound of the two bots making their way to the center of the room from opposite sides reached her ears, and she could only pray that McCree could stun both of them.

The seconds ticked by as she waited for the right moment, sweat beading on her forehead from the hot room. In a moment she would have to move, regardless of whether or not Jesse succeeded.

One heartbeat, two heartbeats. The sound of the two robots merged as they passed each other. Valor moved, body phasing through the wall as she aimed her gun at the precise height of the bots. Her two shots could barely be heard due to the silencer on her pistol, but the telltale clang of metal hitting the floor told her that her bullets had hit exactly where she had intended: the robot's central processors.

Everything had happened so quickly that she hadn't had a moment to tell if the robots had been stunned by McCree's grenade, but based on how smoothly the encounter had gone she could only assume that it had worked.

"Damned if that wasn't somethin'." McCree was staring at her, standing between the deactivated robots.

She twirled her gun in her hand, imitating Jesse, before blowing imaginary smoke off the barrel. "All in a day's work," she teased.

McCree nearly doubled over laughing at her silly display, but managed to choke out that they should get the others.

The team easily made their way into the building through the hallway. None of them were sure if this building held the information they needed, but they had to check. Everything was quiet and calm, which made Valor uneasy. She checked every corner twice as they made their way, careful to be on the lookout for any traps.

The next problem they encountered happened when Mirembe was on point, leading the group out of the building and back into the open space of the warehouse. Valor was in the very back, and by the time she realized something was wrong it was too late to help. Valor pushed past McCree, heart racing as she tried to save Mirembe from being shredded by bullets. When she made it to the front of her team she found that Kimiko had pulled her back before the turret could completely lock on.

"Are you alright?" Her hands were shaking slightly as she looked Mirembe over, the only wound she could find was a slight graze on her upper arm.

Valor reminded herself that she had to stay calm, everything was fine and her teammate wasn't hurt. She still needed to focus on the mission.

"Yes, but that turret's going to be a problem."

Valor moved to peek around the corner. The turret was set up on a building opposite them, and she had no doubt it used motion sensors. There was no other way around it. They were pinned in the building until it could be taken out.

"I can set up a shield matrix," Singh piped up, "give someone long enough to shoot it."

"My gun isn't powerful enough to take it out quickly, and neither is Jesse's." Valor looked to Mirembe and Kimiko.

"Let Mirembe do it, she's the better marksman," Kimiko offered.

Singh was already moving, putting down little metal boxes around the door opening. Once there were two set up on each side the little boxes opened, blue beams shooting out and connecting them all together.

"Matrix is online," he announced, "ready when you are."

Everyone else stepped back as Mirembe readied her rifle, taking aim at where the turret was. Slowly she moved into the doorway, and Valor could hear the turret come to life outside.

The opening lit up with a construct of blue light as Singh's shield did it's job at stopping the bullets. The deafening sound of Mirembe's assault rifle filled the room, but luckily they had been equipped with ear buds that canceled noise over a certain decibel at close range.

"It won't hold up much longer!" Singh yelled.

Mirembe let off several more shots before lowering her gun. The blue light of the shield flickered out as the turret ceased firing.

The team continued onward, not wasting time in their effort to complete their mission. It wasn't easy, Singh narrowly missed a tripwire and setting off a bomb in a doorway. There were also several other sentry bots as well as a Tesla field barrier that Kimiko hacked and deactivated. By the time they reached the end of the warehouse each of them were a bit battered and bruised.

There was only one small building left, which had to contain their objective. They were all together in the alleyway of a cluster of small, partially destroyed houses.

As they walked out towards the last building Valor couldn't help but think that her team was extremely vulnerable in the empty space. No sooner had this thought crossed her mind before she heard a shot whiz by her.

Her head snapped towards the source, but she could see nothing in the dark windows of the taller buildings. A thump reminded her of her teammates.

Valor's mind and body moved rapidly and without hesitation. She had never really been in a high stress situation before, but the parasite did its job of stopping her from freezing.

"Back!" She cried as she grabbed Mirembe's hand and began dragging her towards the cover of the houses.

"What was that?" Singh asked as Valor checked over Mirembe.

She quickly uncovered a small dart that had pierced Mirembe's suit and gone into her shoulder. She plucked it out and put it to the side while Kimiko began to check her vitals.

"I think she's just unconscious," her teammate murmured.

"So much for live rounds," Jesse scoffed.

"If it were, one of us could have ended up dead!" Valor snapped at him.

She couldn't help but think about if they had encountered a sniper that was actually trying to kill them. They had foolishly rushed out into an open area, and one of them might have payed the price. If she had been a bit faster to voice her concerns this might not have happened.

McCree looked a bit ashamed of himself as her eyes locked with his. She wanted to feel bad, but her need to protect her team outweighed any guilt she felt for snapping at him.

"Did anyone see where the shot came from?" Singh asked.

"One of the buildings to the East on the fifth floor," Valor answered.

"So what do we do? There's no way to sneak around."

"Could always just make a break for it. One sniper can only take out so many, and anyone who gets hit will jus' be knocked out," Jesse offered.

"No," Valor replied immediately, "if this were a real situation we wouldn't just run out to get killed."

"Then what?"

"Singh do you still have enough devices for a shield matrix?"

"Yeah, but they don't work very well if we're moving."

"What about if it's just two people, yourself and Kimiko?"

"Theoretically? Yes. I'd have to actually concentrate on blocking the shots though." He sounded extremely uncertain, but Valor knew that the distance between here and the building was only enough for maybe four shots depending on the rate of fire.

"If you can block a few it'll give Jesse and I time to take them out, then you and Kimiko can complete the objective." Valor was confident that this could work.

"Yeah," Singh said a bit nervously, "yeah I can do that."

She put on a reassuring smile for him. "Jesse and I have your backs."

Once Singh had prepared his shield, Valor and McCree moved towards the taller buildings in the distance, taking care to be swift and surreptitious as they moved. She prayed that Singh could keep the shield up and that Kimiko could bypass any security systems the building might have.

"Up there," she pointed out for McCree's benefit.

They immediately took off into the building, Valor being extra careful to look for more trip wires as they made their way to the stairs and up them. She knew that they had to be fast, and her lungs burned as she sped up the flights of stairs, Jesse hot on her heels.

The two of them skidded into the room on the fifth floor, guns at the ready, only to find a rifle on the ground with no one in sight.

It didn't make any sense, she had seen the shot come from here and she doubted that they would just leave after taking out one of them.

"It's a-" McCree wasn't able to finish his sentence.

Valor's head whipped around towards Jesse, a small dart was protruding from his neck. This time she did freeze, her emotions outweighing whatever instincts the omnic parasite was trying to instill in her.

The sound of Jesse's sleeping body hitting the ground reminded her that this could have easily been his dead body. She could have lost him, someone who had quickly become her closest friend in Overwatch.

Valor knew she had to move. She grabbed Jesse's body and hauled it to safety, away from the two open windows in the room.

It had been a decoy, of course. She had been stupid not to realize it right away. The sniper had immediately moved after their first shot, taking up a new position in case her team had tracked the trajectory.

Now she knew where they were though, and she wouldn't be fooled twice. Valor sprinted towards the window on the right side of the room, fueled by her anger at herself as she cleared the small gap into the adjacent building.

The sniper was still there, caught slightly off guard by her charge into the room. They had a mask on and a dark hood over their head, rendering them unrecognizable.

Valor had her gun ready, and fired two shots. The sniper rolled out of the way and onto their feet, taking an unscoped shot at her, their minute movements telegraphed enough for her to avoid being hit.

She went to shoot again, but the sniper closed the space between them, using the butt of their rifle to knock the gun from her hand.

Valor mentally cursed; she wasn't as good in hand to hand combat. The sniper lashed out again and she was able to avoid being hit. She latched onto the rifle as they pulled back, using their own momentum to wrench the gun out of their hands.

They were both unarmed now, and waiting for the other to move. The mask made it very hard to read her opponent, as usually people telegraphed their attacks with their eyes. Valor was the first to move, bull rushing the sniper in an effort to try and pin them on the ground.

The two landed hard on the concrete floor, and grappled to try and get the upper hand. Just when Valor thought she had won the sniper was able to bend her arm back and move so that they were pinning her.

There was a slight pressure on her abdomen, and she looked down to find that the sniper had also been carrying a smaller sidearm. Only when the gun pulled away did she see the same small dart that had taken down two of her teammates.

Valor didn't have much more time to struggle before she faded out of consciousness. The last thing she could remember seeing was the figure's mask swimming into view as they shushed her, gently patting her head as her vision went black.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry I've been mostly silent! If there's any problems with the format of this chapter it's because I'm uploading it from my phone. Please let me know what you think with a comment! It would mean a lot!

* * *

"What do you mean you don't know how much longer she'll be out?" Gabriel Reyes was standing beside the hospital cot that Valor was lying on.

She had been unconscious for nearly two hours, whereas Mirembe and McCree had woken up not twenty minutes after being shot.

Angela peeked out the door, checking that no one else was listening to their conversation. Jack stood by Valor's bed alongside Ana.

"We decided to try something stronger on Valor. If she loses control over the parasite we need a contingency plan," she explained.

Reyes crossed his arms, upset at this little tidbit being hid from him. "She's no more dangerous than any one of us."

"We don't know that," the young woman fiddled nervously with some medical equipment as she tried to avoid his angry stare. "I doubt that she's realized the full potential of her abilities."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you agree with any of this, Jack," he said, pulling his friend into the conversation.

"Angela's right. If something goes wrong then we need to think about what's best for the innocent people she might hurt." Gabe didn't move as Jack came over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He couldn't bear to look into his friend's sympathetic blue eyes. "I understand where you're coming from, and rest assured I know that Valor wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone."

That was the end of their conversation. As if that had justified their actions. Gabriel knew for a fact that Valor would have willingly undergone some kind of similar trial if given the chance. She had let him know some time ago that she was afraid of her powers, which was probably why she hadn't tried experimenting with them more.

Eventually Ana, Jack, and Angela made their way out of the room to complete other business. The lecture he had for his team about their performance would wait until Valor was awake, and so he had nothing more to do that day.

Gabe pulled up a folding chair beside the cot and settled down, arms crossed over his chest. As much as he wanted to test his recruits, what Angela had done had crossed a line. Valor was going to be a part of his team, and the fact that she could have been hurt by whatever Ana shot at her struck a chord in him.

He could have told himself that he would have felt the same way about any of his teammates or recruits, but that would have been a lie. From the moment he saw Valor in training he knew that she would be a force to be reckoned with, and he admired that about her.

Gabriel looked over at her, she was laying peacefully with her white hair splayed across the cot. He found that once she caught his eye it was hard to keep from staring.

She was a completely different person than who they had found in that warehouse. Valor laughed easily and cared deeply for those around her. He had seen it in the way she protected McCree like a younger sibling, and how she remembered to save his favorite desserts when he was late to the mess hall. He didn't know if she did these things for other people, but just the fact that she went out of her way to give him special attention was enough to pique his interest.

Lord, help him, it was definitely going to be hard concentrating now that she was going to be an official part of his team.

A soft noise in between a moan and a sigh notified him that Valor was waking up. He watched as she finally opened her eyes, taking a moment to blink the sleep away before her gaze settled on him.

"What happened?" Valor mumbled as she sat up. Her head was throbbing and she felt nauseous.

"Ana downed you in the trial."

Valor rubbed at her sore back, massaging the area where metal met skin as best as she could. "I should have known it was Captain Amari," she mumbled sourly.

"You did well against her, all things considered." She was surprised at how fondly Captain Reyes was looking at her at that moment.

"I didn't complete the objective with my team," she mumbled sourly, looking away from his brown eyes and full lips.

"Regardless, you were able to keep Ana distracted long enough for your teammates to complete it." Reyes uncrossed his arms and sat up straight. "I'll be having a long talk with Singh and Kimiko about teleporting out without you though. They know better."

Valor was surprised to hear this information. It stung, to think that her teammates had left her and Jesse behind without knowing if they were okay. However, if there was one thing she had learned today it was that split second decisions were hard to make, and it could mean life or death. She didn't blame them.

"Should I pack my bags?" She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to keep tears from forming in her eyes as she focused on anything but Captain Reyes. Valor had tried so hard and had thrown herself fully into her training, and yet here she was going to be sent home.

"What for?"

"I failed the mission. I have to go home now, right?"

Reyes began laughing, and her frown deepened at the sound. Valor's cheeks flushed as she bit back more tears. She couldn't understand what could possibly be funny when she was clearly so upset.

"Hey, hey," Reyes seemed to realize her distress and put a comforting hand over hers, "I'm sorry. This was a team exercise and you completed it as a team. No one's going home."

"But I thought-"

"It's okay," his thumb rubbed small circles on the back of her hand. "It's been a hard day for all of you, but you did well, and now you'll be an agent." She could tell by his tone of voice that he was trying to lighten her mood.

Valor pulled her hand out of his and back onto her lap, her cheeks coloring. This was just like Jack all over again, and the thought made her heart ache. "Thank you, Captain Reyes, it means a lot."

"Of course," his brow was creased, and she wondered if she had upset him by taking her hand away, "and I think it'll be just Gabriel for now on, Captain Reyes is too formal for you."

Valor stared blankly at him, eyes searching his as she tried to figure out what he meant.

"For you."

* * *

After spending the rest of her day in long meetings and evaluations of her team, Valor was finally able to return to her room. Her shoes scuffed on the floor as she wearily trudged down the quiet halls, stifling a yawn as she went.

The low recruit count meant that the top bunk of her bed was empty and she had the room to herself. Valor was grateful for the privacy and the ability to unwind and relax in her own space. The luxury of being able to do so wasn't lost on her.

Valor flopped down on the bottom bunk, head sinking into her soft pillow as she kicked off her boots. She'd have to take a trip to the shower later, but right now she just wanted to lie down.

After spending a few moments with her eyes shut, Valor's hand found her data pad. She scrolled through it for a while, looking at news articles and memos about upcoming meetings and events. A ping sounded signalling a new email from Captain Reyes. Her eyes quickly swept over it, reading over details of how to order gear from the quartermaster.

Valor went to the Blackwatch section of the armory on her data pad. The uniform was far different than the basic Overwatch training jumpsuit she had been given. Black garments seemed to be the theme, she supposed due to fact that they often did stealth missions.

She chewed on her bottom lip as she scrolled through the many modifications available. Body armor was a must, as she wasn't too fond of the idea of being filled with bullet holes. The fact remained that she needed something to help cool the parasite when she was in combat. Today she had found singe marks up the back of her jumpsuit from the hot metal, and she wasn't eager to ruin any more uniforms.

Her thoughts were cut off by a knock at her door.

"Come in," she called as she continued to scroll from her reclined position on the bed.

Valor glanced over her data pad at the door as it opened.

Jack stood there in the open doorway, looking extremely uncomfortable and vulnerable. "Can I come in?"

Her heart stammered in her chest, but she knew this conversation was bound to happen sooner or later. "Yeah, Jack, go ahead," Valor's voice was calm and collected despite her worries. She sat up on the bed and set the pad down beside her.

He seemed to let out a held breath, as if he had been worried she would say no. Jack entered the room and softly shut the door behind him before moving to sit in the chair by her small desk.

She looked him over silently as he moved. His hair was tousled to the point of messiness and he visibly fidgeted under her gaze. Any other time she would have found his uneasiness amusing.

"Listen, Valor, about what you overheard," he began talking, just as she knew he would.

"Stop," she held up her hand and he opened up his mouth as if to argue but, thought better of it. "I get it."

"You do?" His brows were raised and she knew this conversation was already going differently than he had expected.

"I've had a lot of time to think about it, but I don't really think I understood until now. The simulation today, it showed me just a fraction of the stress you must be going through constantly. I snapped at Jesse," she mumbled, not liking the recollection, "not enough to hurt him, but I still lost my temper."

"I was out of line." Jack looked ashamed despite her understanding words.

"You were, but I _get_ it. Jack, you have more responsibilities than I can imagine and yet you always do them with an encouraging smile on your face," a small smile formed on her own lips at the thought. "It's only human that it's going to get to you sometimes. Just do me a favor and leave me out of it next time, okay?"

His blue eyes were full of concern, his brow still creased as he tried to work through her words. "Okay," he breathed, "forgive me?"

"Of course," she smiled, if only to ease his worries a little more. "Are we okay again?" Valor couldn't help but ask. She couldn't take another restless night of sleep or any more uncomfortable dinners avoiding the mess hall.

"I think so," his posture relaxed, as if the conversation had taken a weight off of him.

"Good, I'll start saving your slice of apple pie at dinner again." She gave him a cheeky smile. Valor had missed his presence, and it felt good to finally talk with him again.

Jack groaned comically, putting his head in hand. "What would I do without you?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Have to work overtime without a fix for your sweet tooth," she sighed dramatically, "how ever would you live?"

He chuckled and she watched as all stress seemed to leave him. It was a pleasant sight, to see his eyes close and laugh lines appear as she helped wash away worldly cares.

Jack sighed, a noise which now conveyed how content he was. "It was a pleasure to watch you in action today, you know? I think you'll make a good agent for Blackwatch."

"Still too much of a distraction to be on your team?" She teased, smiling wryly.

"You could say that. You could also say that it makes what I'm about to do slightly less inappropriate."

Valor froze in confusion at his words, watching silently as he stood and walked over to her before kneeling down beside her bed.

"Jack?" She breathed. His face was incredibly close to hers and she couldn't keep her eyes from darting from his bright blue eyes to his soft looking lips.

It seemed an eternity before his lips finally converged on hers. The kiss was soft and controlled, so very much like the man before her. His lips were warm though, and sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Valor's hand moved to gently brush against his cheek as she leaned into him, savoring every second she could before they parted.

"Slightly less inappropriate?" She asked softly as she brushed her nose against his.

"It was worth a shot," he mumbled and pressed his forehead against hers.

* * *

Valor woke up to the sound of rain pattering on the roof. She groaned as she pulled her feet further underneath the covers to ward off the chill that had seeped into her room overnight.

She didn't know why she so often dreamed of that first kiss she and Jack had shared, but it happened regardless. It was as if her subconscious was set on making her miserable with the happy memories of the past when she had to live in the present without Jack.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted into the room from the kitchen, the scent making her smile to herself.

Well, not completely without him, but she had a feeling that would soon change. Her smile vanished as she realized she would soon be alone again.

Valor tried not to think about it as she pried herself from the warm bed and placed her bare feet on the icy floor. She moved over to her dresser and grabbed a pair of leggings to put on beneath her sweater.

With a deep sigh she looked at her closed door, wanting to see Jack and at the same time dreading the impending conversation that was bound to happen. Valor moved across the room before she could talk herself out of it and opened the door. The smell of coffee was stronger in the hallway, and she crossed her arms over her chest as she made her way to the kitchen.

Jack's back was turned to her as she entered the room, his gaze facing out the window above the sink. Her eyes roamed over his broad shoulders that were now clothed with his leather '76' jacket.

She made a small noise of clearing her throat, knowing that often she moved quietly and could easily startle people.

He turned to her, a soft smile playing across his lips as he looked from her bed head down to her cold looking toes. However she could see the sadness in his eyes that the smile did not convey.

"I made coffee, thought you might like some." He turned and grabbed a mug that had already been prepared, it was flattering to know that he still remembered how she liked her coffee.

"Thanks," she smiled despite herself and accepted the mug from him, savoring the warmth on her chilly fingertips. "Did you sleep well?" She asked before blowing on the steaming liquid.

"Yeah," she wondered if she would ever get used to how gruff his voice had become, "nicest place I've slept in a few months."

"Good." Valor took a sip of coffee, hoping she could find the right words. "Jack, can I talk to you about something?" She asked while moving to lean against the counter next to him. The dark depths of her coffee stared back at her as she waited for him to speak.

"Yeah, 'course."

She could feel his eyes on the top of her head but she kept her gaze down. "You know I would join you if you asked me to, right?"

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him cross his arms. "I wouldn't ask that of you."

Valor swallowed a bit more coffee before placing the cup to the side. "Let me rephrase that then. You don't have to ask me, I want to join you. I want to be with you again, Jack." She didn't look up at him, even after all these years she didn't want him to see how vulnerable he made her.

"No."

Her head snapped up to face him, but he was pointedly looking away from her. "What?" God, she didn't want to argue with him right now, not after she had spent so long wishing to be with him again.

"You've already risked your life enough," he grumbled.

"And you haven't?" Valor could feel her temper rising and she quickly tried to contain it. "We don't owe this world anything anymore, Jack, but we're still fighting for it. We're still the heroes the world needs even if they don't know it." She placed a hand on his forearm, silently begging for him to look at her.

He yanked his arm from her grasp. "We're _not_ heroes anymore, Valor."

She bit her lip. "Then what are we?"

He finally looked at her, clearly seeing the broken expression on her face. "I don't," he breathed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know."


	6. Chapter 6

A bit of relationship building. Please comment and let me know what you think!

* * *

Being a new agent was far different than Valor had imagined.

The first upset had been when over half of her team had been taken out of the Blackwatch sector. She and Jesse had been the only two to remain. Valor was glad for that at least, since she felt a sort of sisterly need to watch his back. God knows he needed it too. Jesse could hold his own, but she often wanted to strangle him for being reckless.

After that all of the missions were milk runs in comparison to the stories she heard from Jack and Gabriel. She and McCree would stake out a place for hours only to find out the information handed to them was a false lead, or they would have to escort sundry goods to different watchpoints. She didn't mind per se, but she was beginning to wonder when exactly she would start feeling like a real agent of Overwatch. It was mostly on days where Valor had absolutely nothing to do that she had to remind herself to be patient.

Her first big firefight had occurred when she was trying to escort civilians out of a building downtown that had been bombed by a group of Omnics. Valor remembered it clearly, the dark smoke of the fires tainting an otherwise blue sky. The acrid smell of smoke and sweat was prominent in her memory of that day. There were screams of the injured, or of people trying to find their loved ones. Mercy was there, a call sign she was later told, taking those that had been rescued from the collapsing building and helping those who were severely hurt. Valor made quick work of evacuating civilians, her tone calm and collected as she ordered them towards the escape routes.

The fighting didn't break out until the Overwatch emergency vehicles had left, leaving her team to clear the area as best they could and speak to the authorities. Jack would show up after about an hour or so to talk to the news crews who always seemed eager to interview him. She would later learn that these sort of procedures were customary whenever something happened within the public eye.

So there she was, working with Captain Reyes, Jesse, and a few local police as they tried to clear the streets of remaining stragglers and debris.

The first shot rang out all too clearly, and her head whipped towards the noise as she made for cover. Valor ducked behind one of the cement roadblocks that had been placed and found herself back to back with her captain.

"Things are never easy," she heard him curse softly under his breath.

"That's why we're here," Valor responded. She took a quick peek over the block. There were three Omnics coming from the south, four more from the East near where Jesse had taken cover.

She ducked her head back down and found that Gabriel was looking at her. His shoulder was pressed closely against hers, the block not giving the both of them very much room for cover. "What do you think, mi conejita blanca?"

Valor rose an eyebrow at him, unfamiliar with both the Spanish language as well as him using what she assumed was a nickname. "They don't have very strong weapons," she observed, ignoring it in favor of focusing on the Omnics. "And they're not heavily armored. It shouldn't be a problem."

More gunfire ensued and she walked away with only a graze on her arm from a stray bullet. Overall, she would call that a win. Her team was back at the base a few hours later and the minor wound had been wrapped up.

After cleaning up she went to grab dinner. Some of the other Blackwatch agents she hadn't really gotten to know looked pointedly at her as she entered the mess hall, and Valor wondered what the hell she had ever done to get on their bad side.

"Don't look so offended," Gabriel spoke up from next to her as he grabbed a bread roll from the buffet. "They've just been jealous that you and Jesse got bumped up so fast, the big babies."

Valor couldn't help but smile, chuckling at childishness of these grown men. She scooped an extra helping of dessert after deciding that she would treat herself.

"Hey, follow me." Gabe told her before moving away from their usual table and out of the mess hall.

She followed him, a bit put off by suddenly being led around different corridors of the base, some she had never even seen, all while carrying her tray of food. Valor was quiet as she walked behind him, keeping silent even though she was dying to ask where he was taking her.

Valor didn't have to wait long before she caught sight of Jesse, his own tray in hand as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Bout' time!"

"What's going on?" She finally asked.

"Old man left me out here an didn't even say why."

"Surprised to see you finally listened for once. Come on you two." Gabriel stepped towards the door McCree had been loitering in front of and turned the handle.

Everything was dark as they entered, and Valor had seen enough surprise parties in her youth to know where this was going.

Just as she had predicted the lights flicked on and a chorus of 'surprise' rang out through the break room. Valor smiled as she took in Jack, Lena, and Winston all gathered around.

"What's all this about?" Her eyes darted over to Jesse at the sound of his voice, only to find him gaping and looking more shocked than she had ever seen him. Valor's heart gave a twinge of sadness as she realised this was probably the first surprise party the poor kid had ever seen.

She watched as Gabriel clapped him on the shoulder. "It's a congratulations, on being an agent."

"There hasn't been a lot of time for us around here or we would have done it sooner!" Lena piped in.

"And Angela sends her regards, she's caught up in her clinic," Winston said.

Valor couldn't help a wide smile as her heart swelled. "This is so sweet of everyone, right Jesse?" She wrapped an arm around him and rubbed his hat down further on his head affectionately.

"Here, I'll get you two some champagne!" Lena exclaimed happily and flitted over to the table where glasses had already been poured.

"Maybe you should let me-" Valor attempted to offer, but Lena had already grabbed two glasses and blinked back. Unfortunately she hadn't accounted for her acceleration on the glasses and the champagne splashed all over the front of Valor's hoodie.

She thought it was hilarious, nearly doubling over even as Lena tried to grab paper towels to clean her up. "It's the thought that counts," she reassured, stripping down to her tank top and throwing her hoodie over a chair.

After that little incident they all toasted and had their glasses of champagne. The group enjoyed each other's company as they drank and shared stories about news or missions. Valor loved every moment of it, her eyes flitting from Jack to Gabriel, enjoying the smiles that graced both of their faces as they told wild stories from when they first met.

After a while the room began to empty as a few of them went to bed. Jesse finally seemed to give up on trying to get more champagne after Gabriel had limited him to the one glass. He moaned a bit and sulked until Jack insisted that he go to bed like the others had.

That left her alone with her captain and her commander. The thought would have made her uncomfortable any other time, but she had had a few glasses and was having a great time.

Somehow they ended up on the couch in the break room. She was squeezed in between the two men, the tv volume on low in the background. Both of them seemed incredibly happy, and it was good to see them relaxing.

"How do you think the mission went today?" Gabe asked her as he lounged back against the cushions.

"You tell me, jefe," she said and sent him a cheeky smile.

Jesse had reassured her that it would get a rise out of him, and just as promised Gabriel snorted on the beer he was drinking while Jack clutched his sides in laughter.

Valor apologised in between laughing, patting Gabe's chest lightly as he tried to clear his throat of the beer.

"Now that just isn't fair," she heard Gabriel grumble after he had caught his breath.

"So super soldier camp, huh?" Valor asked after everything had settled down.

"Yup," Gabe sighed and took another swig of his beer, "pumped us full of some real potent stuff, made you feel like all of your nerves were on fire and you could run for days."

"So it made you stronger? Gave you more stamina?" Gabriel's eyebrow quirked upward at the word stamina and she hurried to correct herself, face turning pink. "Not like that, you know what I mean."

Gabe's arm stretched around her shoulder, hand nearly touching Jack. "Yeah, boy scout and I could probably go almost a week with hard work and no sleep. Not that we'd want to."

"And the drinking?" She asked, gesturing to the glass of whiskey touching Jack's lips as he listened quietly to their conversation. He was seemingly unbothered by Gabe's arm around her, or was simply too tipsy to care. "I just thought that with all that energy you would metabolize alcohol too fast to get drunk."

Gabe shrugged. "Don't think they wanted soldiers who couldn't drink away their problems."

"That's a bit morbid."

"Can't save everyone, conejita, and on days like that," he took a sip for emphasis, "we drink."

"And what about today?"

"Today is because of those damned reporters," Jack interjected.

"I don't envy you," Gabe reached across her to clink his glass against Jack's.

"And what about the names?" Valor had a million questions saved up and she was finally given a chance to ask them. "Mercy? Tracer?"

"Lena's idea," Jack answered. "The media has made us out to be heroes instead of soldiers, and she said that in all of the old superhero comics they had alter egos and names. It just stuck."

"What about me? Don't I get one?" She teased, leaning her head on Jack's shoulder.

The two men seemed to think for a moment.

"Wight?" Jack asked, and Gabriel nodded in agreeance.

"Really?" Valor pouted, "Don't you think people will be afraid of me because of that name?"

"Nah, I think it's perfect," Jack lifted his hand and ruffled her hair.

"Fine, fine." She closed her eyes, enjoying both the feeling of Gabriel's arm still resting on her shoulder and her head laying on Jack.

Valor hadn't realised she had nodded off until Gabe shook her shoulder lightly.

"Come on, Carino, let's get you to bed."

She picked her head up off of Jack's shoulder to find that he was also close to falling asleep. Valor allowed Gabriel to lead her and Jack to her room, but was confused when he stopped at a room a few doors down instead of the recruit dormitory. He hit the panel next to the door and it opened. All of her belongings, though few and far between, were placed in the room.

"Here you go, your room befitting an Overwatch agent."

Valor took a tentative step inside. The bedroom was much larger than her last one, and the bed was queen size rather than a bunk bed. She also had her own workspace and a window overlooking the dark field in the back of the headquarters.

Something caught her eye, a poster hung on the wall with Jack, fully dressed in his gear and standing proudly in front of an Overwatch symbol. "Whose idea was that?" Valor asked, covering her mouth before a laugh could escape. The poster looked absolutely ridiculous.

"In case you forget what I look like, sweetheart." Jack was leaning against her doorframe and sent her a wink.

She rolled her eyes. "Alright, that's enough excitement for me." Valor strolled over to the door and, feeling emboldened, pecked both men lightly on the cheek. "Goodnight, boys. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

Valor walked through the hall early the next morning. The festivities last night had put her in a chipper mood and she hummed softly as she made her way to Jack's room. It was a Saturday, so the halls were fairly empty. The other soldiers usually took the opportunity to sleep in or were out in the city enjoying the time off.

She rapped lightly on Jack's door, foot tapping impatiently as her knock went unanswered.

"Oh, Commander!" Valor called cheerfully as she knocked louder.

Her sensitive hearing caught the sound of rustling in the room a few moments before the door opened. Jack stood in the doorway, hair a mess and clad in a pair of low-rise sweats.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked, no doubt wondering why she was at his door so early in the morning.

"Here," she produced some aspirin she had gotten from the common room, "figured you could use it."

Jack had been deep in his glasses of whiskey last night, and from the looks of it he hadn't stopped when she had gone to bed. Still, she was glad to see how happy he had been.

"You're not wrong about that," he grumbled, accepting the pills. "Come on in."

She followed him into his room, drinking in the new environment eagerly. Jack's room was incredibly organized, and mostly unadorned except for many framed photos. Valor looked at them, memorizing the faces of those Jack cared about enough to keep photos of. Her fingers traced across the glass of one that could only be Jack as a young boy, standing with his parents in front of a field.

"Who are all of these people?"

Jack groaned and she turned to see him lying on his bed, knuckles digging into his temples. Valor had to take a second to admire his muscular and half-naked body stretched out before her.

"Can we talk about it over a greasy meal?"

Valor chuckled and lightly bit her knuckle to keep from laughing too loudly. "Yeah, know any good places around here?"

"Sure do," he replied, not picking his head up from the bed.

It took a bit of coaxing, but she finally got Jack into a shirt and found him a pair of dark sunglasses to help with his hangover. Now they walked through the streets, arm in arm. Valor chatted about everything and nothing while Jack smiled and laughed along with her. It was pleasant and the streets were mostly empty since it was the weekend.

"This is one of the only places open on the weekend."

"How'd you find it?"

He smiled at her. "This isn't my first hangover, sweetheart."

Valor shivered as a chill wind penetrated her jacket. She snuggled a bit closer to Jack, enjoying the warmth he radiated.

Soon they arrived at a small diner, a mom and pop place that looked quiet and quaint. It wasn't quite like the diners back home, but it had enough bacon, eggs and sausage to make up for it. Valor was grateful that it was much warmer inside, and not long after sitting down she had a hot mug of coffee in her hands.

She didn't speak until Jack had finished at least half of his plate of food, hoping it would help him feel better.

Valor munched happily on her pancakes while looking out the window, not particularly paying attention to anything.

"You look like you're a thousand miles away."

"Just zoning out." She turned and smiled at Jack. "Feeling any better?"

"Much." He had removed his dark sunglasses and his blue eyes looked at her fondly.

"So all of those pictures," she said, her curiosity returning.

He shrugged. "Most of them are people I've worked with. It helps to remember their faces, especially the ones who have passed."

Valor reached across the table, taking his hand in hers. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. What Gabriel said is true, you can't save everyone. Kind of something you have to remind yourself a lot in our line of work."

She sent him a half-smile, hoping to God that nothing like that would ever happen to anyone she knew. "I think I saw a picture of your family there too. Where are they?"

"Still working on the family farm in Indiana." a nostalgic smile crossed over his face. "Damn, I miss that place."

"Do you think you'll go back once all of this is over? The Crisis, I mean."

"Maybe. Why? You wanna meet the folks already?" His grin was sly.

Valor felt heat creep up her neck. "Only if you want me to."

"I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?" Jack winked at her before taking a sip of his coffee.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the wait! Depression is a hell of a motivation killer

Thank you all for your kind words! I'm so glad you like my story and I can't wait to share more with you!

* * *

Valor moved through the hallways of the Overwatch Base, humming slightly as she walked. The holidays had always been her favorite time of the year so she was even more chipper than usual. Even the soldiers and agents around the base seemed to be in better spirits, despite the war with the Omnics getting worse every day.

She had hope, though, hope that this war would be over soon. Things always seem to be at their worst before they got better, at least that was true in her experience.

Valor moved along leisurely while people rushed past her. Her training had ended earlier than usual today which left her with a bit more free time.

Someone knocked into her shoulder. She was about to brush it off as an accident until she looked up to see Jack.

"On break?" He asked as he kept pace with her.

"As a matter of fact I am," she said while readjusting the heavy boxes she held in her arms. "Don't you have a meeting or something today, Commander?" She teased.

"On my way to it now, but I just got some news and happened to see you."

"Is it good or bad news?" She sobered up a bit, steeling herself for his reply. It had been months since she was officially accepted into Overwatch and Valor had already seen a fair share of death and destruction.

"Might be a bit of both. I know it's still a few weeks away but you don't have any plans for New Years Eve do you?"

Valor sent him a curious glance, but Jack was looking at a data pad, no doubt sifting through emails and briefings. She had gotten used to the amount of time he spent glued to that thing, overwhelmed with his work. "I guess I just thought I'd spend it here." She shrugged noncommittally.

"Well I've just heard news that there is going to be a fundraiser gala for Overwatch. The UN might be with us but we need the extra money and support. It'll be at a fancy place in Germany. It would be best if all of our top agents make an appearance." Jack looked pointedly up from his data pad at her.

Valor snorted, unable to contain her mirth. "I'm not sure if I qualify for the top agents list. Next thing I know you'll be telling me that Jesse is going too."

"He is."

She raised an eyebrow at him before dodging around a group of officials. Valor then moved back closer to Jack. "He's just a kid. I know he's an agent and everything, but he's only seventeen, Jack. You should let him do what he wants on new years. God knows he didn't have much of a childhood in the first place."

"Well he's already agreed to go."

Valor rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. Just don't come to me when he's gotten into the open bar or something." She stopped in front of the hall that lead to the barracks. "Go tend to your meetings," she brushed her hand against his, a small touch of affection was all she could afford with so many people around.

"Just don't be late for dinner again," he teased and winked at her, "I know how you tend to lose track of time."

Valor made a face at him before turning her back and disappearing down the hall. It wasn't long before she made her way to the recreation area the agents shared. It was obvious when you walked in that the place was used often, and to her trained eye she could easily spot signs of who used what. Lena had a charging dock for her accelerator in the corner, there was a card table where Jesse liked to cheat the others out of their money, and Angela had a cozy couch where she liked to curl up and fall asleep after a long day.

A smile grew on her face as she touched the card table, reminiscing on when she had spotted cards up Jesse's sleeve as he played Jack for a hundred bucks. Her sharp eyes had caught a glimpse of his slight of hand. She had to admit the kid was good. With a chuckle she had peered over Jack's shoulder, giving McCree even more hints as to what the commander held in his hand.

That had been a fun evening.

Valor moved across the room and put the heavy boxes down on the floor near the Christmas tree Torbjorn had gotten them. She quickly went to work unboxing ornaments and ribbons to decorate with. It was nice to have a real tree instead of a holo one. It meant she could decorate and make the common room a little brighter and happier than usual. Something she was sure they would all need in the coming year.

After about an an hour and a halfs work and nearly a bottle of wine later she had finished adorning the tree with silver ornaments and blue bows. The finishing touch would be the crystalline star on top. Unfortunately a ladder was nowhere to be found and she was too short to put it up without one.

Valor stretched on the tips of her toes, leaning precariously over the tree with star in hand. Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her waist and hoisted her into the air just high enough for her to place the star neatly on top. The air that had rushed out of her lungs in surprise once again left her when she was placed back on her feet and turned around to come face to face with Gabriel.

"Oh, Gabe! Fancy meeting you here," she teased with a smile.

"It looked like you needed a hand."

"Apparently I needed two." Valor laughed. "Hope I wasn't too heavy, I promise it's all metal," she joked, rapping her knuckles against the parasite on her spine.

"Come on, too heavy for me?" He feigned a cocky smile and flexed his bicep, an image Valor was sure she would never be able to get out of her mind now.

Valor knocked his arm aside teasingly. "Alright, _Captain,_ since you're so big and strong I guess you won't mind helping me lug these back to storage," she said and gestured to the boxes she had just emptied.

"If I told you I had a very pressing matter that I just remembered would you believe me?" He asked, leaning against the side of the sofa.

"Not a chance," she replied with a sly smile and pressed the boxes into his hands.

* * *

Christmas Eve was soon upon them.

It was snowing, something Valor had never experienced since her childhood home had been far away from the Californian mountain ranges. She could see the warm light from the windows illuminate the icy drifts from where she stood. Her heart swelled with emotion as she turned back towards the kitchenette.

"Here ya go," she said with a content smile as she placed the three steaming mugs of hot cocoa she had retrieved on the table between Jack and Gabriel.

The commander put a discreet hand on the small of her back as she leaned over the table. Valor couldn't help but send him an affectionate glance as she moved to sit down.

The evening had been perfect. Everyone had exchanged gifts by the tree, each of them reveling in each others company on the one night they could all spend together. It was odd, but she loved their little mismatched family. Soldiers, ex-gang members, doctors, scientists, anomalies. Somehow she felt at home here.

Valor peeked over at Jesse who was dozing off in an armchair, still cradling the belt buckle Gabriel had gotten him. "I can't believe you actually bought that," she spoke quietly, nodding with her head at the teen.

"He's cocky," Gabriel snorted with laughter, "it suits him."

"You should be setting a better example, Gabe," she teased, "you _are_ our Captain."

"And your Captain says you should lighten up, Cariña."

"I'm just saying it's a bit inappropriate for the battlefield, that's all."

"Come on, the head honcho is our best friend. He doesn't care what the kid wears right, Jackie?"

Jack broke out of his reverie at the sound of his name. "What?" He looked blankly at the two of them. "Sorry, mind was wandering," his face flushed as he spoke. "Did I miss something important?"

Valor studied his face, wondering what could possibly have her commander so flustered. When their gazes met he looked away quickly, scratching the back of his head.

"Just side with the newbie, you always do," Gabriel ruffled her hair affectionately, ignoring Jack's odd behavior.

"Can you blame him, Gabe?" She put on her best innocent face.

"Ah, ah, ah," he wagged his finger at her, a smirk on his face. "I'm immune to your charms."

"That makes one of us then," Jack laughed along with them.

Before long it was getting late. Gabriel had dismissed himself after Reinhardt had begun singing German christmas carols, the huge man having consumed nearly the entire base's eggnog and rum. Soon after Valor found herself standing awkwardly in front of her bedroom door, not entirely ready to leave Jack's side.

"Well, uh, I had a great night." She smiled, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Part of her wanted to give in to the crazy idea of asking him to come into her room, even for a few minutes. Tonight was the most she had seen him in one sitting for several months.

"Me too, it was good to see everyone having a good time. They deserve it."

Valor couldn't help but admire him when he used his commander tone like that. He really cared for everyone so much.

"But anyways," he continued before she could reply. "Sorry I didn't have your present at the party. I completely forgot it in my room. Do you wanna go get it?" He asked, looking at her and then back down the hallways towards his room.

It was a lie, but she wouldn't call him on it.

Valor felt around in the dark as Jack went to go turn on his bedside lamp. If there was one thing the parasite hadn't given her it was better night vision. She searched for the dresser and gave a loud yelp as her toe met solid wood.

"Owww," she moaned clutching her toe and hopping slightly as Jack finally switched on the light. Valor hopped over to the bed and examined her throbbing toe as he knelt down in front of her.

"Sorry, sorry," he comforted as he planted soft kisses on her foot.

Valor laughed at the situation, the pain having quickly passed. "It's alright, God, I'm going to bring a flashlight next time though."

Jack stood and scooped her up in his arms, a broad smile on his face. "Next time I'll just have to carry you then, and I'll just," he hoisted her up and deposited her on the center of the bed and she giggled as she bounced slightly.

Valor continued laughing as she let her head sink into his soft pillows. She only opened her eyes when she felt the bed dip as he joined her.

"I really did have a present you know." Jack was sitting at the end of the bed holding a box in his hand.

"And here I thought it was all a clever ploy." Valor smiled as she sat up.

Jack handed her the box, and she was surprised to find that he looked at bit sheepish. She undid the ribbon slowly, before pulling the top off. Inside was a necklace, dainty and with a sapphire pendant.

"I thought you might like to wear it to the gala," his breath ghosted on her ear as she turned and lifted up her hair to let him put it on her.

Valor gently brushed her hand over the gem as she released her hair, letting it cascade down her back. Her lips were on his a moment later. "Thank you, Jack." She brushed her nose against his.

"Do you know how lucky I am?" He breathed into her neck as they embraced.

"And here I thought I was the lucky one," her tone would have been teasing were it not for the tender moment.

Valor kissed him again before sliding off the bed. Slowly she pulled her sweater over her head, watching as Jack drank in her body inch by inch until she was standing in nothing but the necklace he had given her.

"Are you alright with this, Jack? I don't want to put you in a compromising position."

The commander let out a puff of air from his lungs as he looked at her appreciatively. "I think you already have."

Valor gave him a small smile and drew closer, her hips between his thighs. "You don't seem to be putting up much of a fight."

Jack's hands gently grazed the curves of her hips. "You won my heart long before now, V."

She leaned in and caressed his face, loving how he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. He was so handsome, his blue eyes sparkling with love and lust while his taut muscles rippled beneath her fingertips as she trailed them down his chest. Valor had wanted this intimacy with him for so long, and now it was finally happening.

Valor crawled onto the bed before sinking down on her back. Jack joined her and she watched reverently while he pulled off his shirt and began undoing the button on his pants. He was quickly as naked as she was and her eyes left his face to take in the rest of his perfectly muscled body.

"I take it you're enjoying yourself?" She looked back to see him raise one eyebrow at her.

She smiled. "Should I not be?"

"Oh no please indulge yourself all you want, but if you don't mind," he leaned over her body, his hard cock pressing against her thigh as he began planting kisses trailing down her neck, "I'm also going to indulge myself tonight."

He sucked on her neck, hard enough to leave hickeys that she would have to hide tomorrow. Slowly he made his way down to her collarbone and then her stomach. His hand mirrored his pace as it stroked down her sides as he moved to grab her ass.

Valor sighed contently as he kneaded her soft flesh, the small noise sending shivers through Jack's body as he rutted against her thigh. She reached down between them and grasped him tightly, enjoying the feel of his arousal that was solely for her. He groaned above her, his mouth now on her breast and teasing her pert nipple.

She was soaked and more than ready for him.

"Jack," she said softly and pulled his head up to look at her, "I love you. I know it's only been a few months, but I do. I love you for who you are and what you stand for." Her eyes began to well up with tears as she remembered where she had been before she had met him, the agony she had been in.

"Hey," he wiped at a tear that had escaped down her cheek, "it's okay."

"Sorry, I'm just, I'm so glad you found me." She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him tightly, trying to rein in her emotions.

"Valor," he said, gently he pulled back and brushed her hair behind her ear. "I love you too, know that whatever happens I won't let anything separate us. This war has taken too much, and I won't let it take you from me. You're the best damn thing to happen to me."

She studied his face for a moment, committing every movement, every expression to memory. His bright blue eyes stared back at her, and she briefly wondered if he was doing the same.

Valor leaned up to kiss him, her tongue sliding across his soft lips and seeking to deepen it. His lips parted easily and their tongues met as they tasted one another.

Her hand slid between them as she guided him to her entrance. Jack pressed into her slowly, and she groaned into his mouth once he was completely inside. She felt so deliciously full.

Jack groaned as he slowly began to rock against her, his fingers twining in her white locks. Their pace was slow, and she wrapped her legs around his waist to deepen each thrust. Jack made a noise of appreciation as one particularly good angle sent her back arching in pleasure.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured appreciatively as his fingers toyed with her clit.

She moaned his name and writhed under his gentle ministrations "Please," she gasped, "harder."

Without a word he lifted her legs onto his shoulders and began pounding into her. She was too far gone to hold back her moans or worry if Jack was enjoying himself, although his heavy groans of pleasure was enough to tell her all she needed.

She could feel heat pooling between her legs as her own wetness dripped down her thighs. Every thrust was bringing her closer and closer to her peak.

Her orgasm was upon her before she knew it. She tossed her head back as she came, soft cries and mewls leaving her until finally she relaxed onto the bed. Seeing her come undone beneath him was enough to send Jack over the edge, his dick throbbing inside her and releasing hot ropes of cum.

He remained inside her for a while, their sweaty bodies entwined in a loving embrace.

Jack kissed her forehead before rolling onto his back next to her. She could see his satisfied smile from her position, and the corners of her mouth pulled up in response.

"Come here," he ordered gently. Valor was more than eager to move into his arms and rest her head upon his chest.

His heartbeat began to slow the longer she listened to it. She was exhausted, and Jack's steady breathing quickly lulled her into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Valor woke with a jolt.

Something was wrong, she could feel it in her gut. Her room was freezing and even her thick comforter couldn't keep her warm. There was no smell of coffee today as there had been the past several days that Jack had been there.

She quickly pulled on thick socks before dashing into the living room. Valor was greeted by emptiness, one she thought she had become accustomed to long ago. Jack wasn't there, and neither was his jacket or his bag.

He hadn't even left a note.

She began sobbing, clutching her sweater tightly over her heart. Jack had left her again and there was nothing she could do about it.

After all these years she thought maybe they could patch things up between them. God, she had just been happy to know he was alive. But along with that had come the foolish hope that he would love her enough to stay.

Valor sunk onto the couch, clutching her face in her hands. Her body shuddered as she cried harder.

The loud sound of her phone ringing made her jump. She scrambled to go grab it from where it was charging in the kitchen, her heart pounding against her ribcage.

"Hello?" She answered breathlessly, desperate to see if Jack was on the other side.

"Wight?"

"Winston?" She inquired, perplexed. Her cheeks were still painted with tears, but they were now forgotten.

"Yes, I'm glad I was able to reach you."

"Is everything alright?"

"I think so, for now at least," he sounded winded. "Look, this isn't a secure line so I can't give you all of the details right now but something has happened." He took a deep breath. "I'm recalling Overwatch."

Valor stood there blankly for a moment. "You-really?" Her voice was beyond hopeful.

"Yes, I've already contacted-"

"I have to go right now," she said quickly, "I'll call you back."

Valor ran to her room and pulled on pants and a pair of shoes. With no hesitation she sprinted and phased through her front door, down the stairs, and into the street. If she was lucky he might still be in the city.

Jack had told her how he has gotten there. An old bus route, and she only knew of one that fit his description.

The metal on her spine heated and began to burn her skin as she used every ounce of her power to run for the bus stop. Nothing was going to stop her, not now. Cars swerved to avoid her but she simply went through them, her age granting her more than enough experience to avoid collisions.

Valor didn't know how long she had been running, it seemed like mere minutes. The stop came into view, and she could see that the bus was already there. People were standing in line and waiting to pay and board. She nearly cried out upon seeing the top of Jack's head at the end.

Her pace slowed as she jogged toward him, her heart in her throat. "Jack!"

His gaze jerked up towards her voice, his eyes wide, before he tilted his head downwards once more. "Go home, Valor."

She came to a halt in front of him, her heart aching at his words. "Jack, I can't."

His shoulders tensed, and she worried that he might lash out at her.

Valor put a hand on his shoulder. Surprisingly he did not resist as she led him away from the line. "Did you get the message?" She whispered to him.

He looked up at her again and she resisted the urge to squirm under his piercing blue gaze. "What message?"

Her heart thudded in her chest and she rocked on her heels, trying to contain her excitement. She needed this, after all these years there was finally something that could bring them together again.

"Overwatch is back!"


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriel paced on the metal catwalk that overlooked one of Overwatch's training rooms. It was two days after Christmas and the members of Blackwatch were already hard at work. They couldn't afford to relax.

Despite the slight break in attacks, he knew that this war was nearing its climax. His team felt it too, despite their best efforts to hide their nervousness from him. It was like all of them were holding their breath, waiting for the moment where all hell would break loose.

Gabe hoped it would be over sooner rather than later. He loved his job, he loved protecting people, but he would also jump at the chance to go home and start a real life there.

His gaze was naturally drawn to Valor at the thought.

He watched as Valor and McCree took point, leading their companions against another team of six. The exercise was like paintball, except they were preparing for a real war, and his team treated it as such.

It was no wonder that his gaze was drawn to her. She moved like a wildfire, quickly changing from a slow burn to a fiery blaze as she moved through the course, taking out opponents as she went. It was beautiful in the same way: powerful, awe inspiring, and so disastrous that you can't look away.

If there was one thing that Valor had mastered it was phase shifting, a term Winston had recently coined for her ability to shift her body into a state that could move through solid matter. She did it as easily as breathing, easing her traversal through the field of cover. One second she could be behind a wall with her team and the next she would be smashing her handgun into her opponent's face before firing fake rounds into them. All of it occurred in a span of a few seconds before she had moved on to the next team member and dispatched them just as easily.

It hardly gave the rest of her team a challenge since only three remained. Even then they didn't stand a chance against Jesse and the others outnumbering them. It was enough to give him pause and wonder if she shouldn't train with Lena, Jack, Ana, himself, and a few others of their rank and abilities. It made no sense to hold her back.

"Valor!" He called, and her head jerked up in his direction from where she stood socializing with her team on their victory.

He beckoned her over, the others joking and giving her shit about how she had cheated and that's why he wanted her asap. Gabe caught her flipping them off behind her back before turning over her shoulder to laugh at their antics. He had to admit, he was happy they were getting along considering their bumpy start.

Valor then made her way to the stairs which led up to him. It took all of his willpower to avoid staring as she ignored a bead of sweat that ran down the length of her neck and down into the collar of her suit, and even more so to keep gaze off her breasts which were still heaving slightly as she caught her breath. Even as he was imagining her body beneath his he was trying to think of a reason why it was wrong to think about her like that in the first place.

She was the one who had been flirting with him for months, who had gone out of her way to ask him if he had "someone special" as she put it. Hell, if there were no one else in the room he might have even made good on getting a chance to ask if she wanted to be. He had thought about doing it more than once, but despite his charm and boasting, asking someone out was still something he got nervous about. It was even more difficult because he really didn't want to fuck things up with Valor.

Gabriel cleared his throat. "What do you call that out there?" He asked, pointing at the field and trying his best to look serious.

She grinned slyly in response "I call it winning."

Oh how he wanted to grab her waist and wipe that smug look off her face.

Gabriel attempted to hide his smirk as he called over his shoulder to the teams that practice was over for the day.

Valor remained by his side as the others filed out. "Got any plans tonight?"

His heart jumped at her question. "Don't think so, why?" He tried to remain nonchalant.

"Jack and I were going to catch a movie and wanted to know if you wanted to come along?"

Gabe was only slightly disappointed, but hell, he wouldn't miss a chance to spend some down time with Jack or Valor. Plus the smile on her face meant that she wanted him there.

"What time?"

"Right after this. Well, after I shower," she said wrinkling her nose. "You can wait in my room until I'm done if you want."

He shrugged noncommittally, "Sure, that's fine."

Gabriel followed her to her room. He hadn't seen it since she moved in two nights ago, but already Valor seemed to be making more use of the extra space. Twinkling lights hung across the ceiling and books were stacked neatly on an vintage trunk she had gotten from Reinhardt for Christmas.

"I like it," he said appreciatively as he sat on the edge of her bed, "it's very you."

"Oh, good!" Valor was digging through drawers on the other side of the room. She came out with some clean clothes. "I already like it much better than the recruit rooms."

Valor made her way to the door. "Make yourself at home, Gabe!" She waved briefly before closing the door behind her.

Gabriel was almost giddy. He laid back on Valor's bed and surrounded himself in her scent: almond with a hint of metal. He wished he could be here more often.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Open!"

In walked Jack. "Hey, glad you could make it." He smiled and joined him on the bed. "Where's-?"

"Showers," he answered before Jack could finish his question.

"Gotcha. I would ask how training was but work is the last thing I wanna talk about." The commander looked exhausted as he dug his knuckles into his eyes.

Gabe stretched his arms above his head, shirt hiking up slightly. He would save his questions for their official meetings then, and save Jackie some stress.

"You remember what we would do in basic when we were too stressed out?"

"Drink ourselves into a coma?" Jack asked with a laugh.

"Besides that," Gabriel chuckled, "we'd spar one on one. Say what was on our minds and punch our feelings out."

"You saying you're up for a beating?"

"Very funny, boy scout," he lightly punched Jack's shoulder. "Just keep it in mind if things get too bad."

"I will. Thanks, Gabe."

The door opening stopped their conversation. Valor walked in, towel drying her wet hair. When she spotted them on the bed she broke out into an impish grin. Both men sucked in a breath of air as she pounced on the bed, her body flopping across both of their stomachs.

"That's what you get for starting without me!" She said in response to their dramatic groans.

* * *

Two days flew by and it was already new year's eve.

Valor was nervous, big parties had never really been her thing. She much preferred something intimate with a few friends like how Christmas had been. Not only would there be a ton of people there, but most of them were people she would have to try and impress on behalf of Overwatch. The thought made her sick to her stomach with worry.

At the beginning of the night they were all brought up on the grand staircase and introduced one by one. The crowd all clapped politely as their names were called and they stepped forward. The lights were bright, and she could hardly make out the crowd past them. She was glad there were no reporters or cameras swarming around. That, at least, made standing there bearable.

Jack addressed the crowd afterwards. It was still surreal to hear him speak so formally. She was used to joking around or at least receiving orders from him. Now, though, his tone was grim as he pulled up a holo of a map of the most recent attacks. There were so many red dots, so many deaths. Some of the areas she even recognized as places she had been deployed to in the past few months.

Valor bit down on her lower lip, her expression no doubt conveying clearly her troubled emotions. An elbow met her hip and she glanced over to see Jesse giving her his best reassuring look. She smiled back at him, trying to convey that she was fine.

"We will bring peace and an end to this war. We have no other choice." That was the end of Jack's speech.

They all descended as music began to play in the background. Drinks were swiftly served while people mingled.

"You alright there, darlin'?" Jesse was there, holding out a glass for her.

"Oh yeah," now that she was out of the spotlight she felt much better, "just got a little swept away by the commander's speech."

"It was definitely a hell of a thing. Anywho, how much money you think these guys are throwing at us?" He asked, taking a swig of his own champagne and gesturing vaguely at the benefactors.

"I really don't think that's appropriate." She answered carefully, hoping no one had heard him.

"Oh, come on. Lighten up, Valor, the night's just started."

She gave him what she hoped was her best stern mother look. "Behave yourself, McCree." Normally she wouldn't be so hard on him, but they had to look good here for Overwatch. This wasn't their headquarters and they couldn't afford to make a scene.

He rolled his eyes at her, and she couldn't help but think he was being a typical teenager. "I'm going to find somethin' fun to do."

Jesse was gone before she could say anything else. She stood there for a moment before realizing that she was now incredibly alone. Valor quickly searched for someone she knew and spotted Jack's blonde hair among the crowd. If she had to talk to some foreign patrons so be it, it was better than being by herself.

"Excuse me, Commander." She politely spoke up during a lull in the conversation he was having with several men and women.

His face seemed to light up as he noticed her.

"Everyone, this is Valor, one of our more recent agents."

She quickly shook hands as introductions were made. They were philanthropists from all walks of life: doctors, lawyers, heirs to family fortunes, and CEO's were just a few of the things she caught. It was overwhelming, but she was no longer who she used to be before the parasite. Valor knew that even months from now she would be able to recall the names and faces of all of them. What she didn't have yet was worldly experience. Most of her life before now had been spent in California, so she was only able to chime in to the conversation every once in awhile.

When she checked the holo-clock, that was hovering above the second floor, an hour had somehow already passed. Valor gave Jack a small nudge and somehow that small gesture was the only cue he needed to excuse them.

His smile was bright as he led her away. "You did great back there."

Valor released a deep breath, letting it drain away her anxiety. "Thanks, I don't know how the hell you do this."

Jack laughed. "I get a lot of practice."

"By the way, how do you think this is going?" She looked out over the huge room. There were waiters scurrying about serving food and drinks while hundreds of people grouped up and spoke to each other. She could barely make out the music coming from the floor above them over the buzz of conversation. It was completely unlike anything she had ever seen, outside of movies of course.

"Good. More people showed up than were even on the list. I think this shines a nice light on Overwatch too, it's good that they get to see and talk to our agents."

"Mmm," she replied while drinking, it's effects sending tingles down to her fingers. "Just promise me this is only like once a year and I'll be a happy camper."

"Fingers crossed for the both of us."

* * *

Gabriel sighed and sucked in the crisp, outside air.

The noise and so many people inside the building made it stifling. There was a reason he was made the captain of Blackwatch: people just weren't his thing. Oh, he could make nice just like Jack but he definitely preferred not to. Which was one of the reasons why he was even able to slip away.

He leaned against the balcony railing. The back of the estate looked out over its gardens and the sweet smell of flowers drifted up to the second floor. Thick glass doors behind him muffled the music from inside just enough for the atmosphere to be relaxing. It was getting late, but in his opinion the sooner this night was over the better. He was sure some of the people in there cared about the war, but then again some just wanted an excuse to party and throw their money at something.

Gabe nearly groaned as he heard the double doors behind him open. He didn't turn around, hoping the person was just there to have a smoke or something.

"Not your kind of party, Captain?" Valor's voice sent a thrum of excitement through him.

"My kind of party involves a little more tequila." He grinned at her as he turned around and leaned his back against the railing.

She gave him a sly smile, and he couldn't help but admire the way she was all dolled up for the occasion. Thank god they didn't have to wear their formal uniforms, he mused, as he admired Valor's black dress. Its back was so low cut that it exposed all of her spine and ended just above her butt. It made him want to slowly run his fingers over the warm skin and metal.

"Well someone may have just paid off the bartender," she revealed the bottle of tequila and two shot glasses that she had hidden behind her.

"You spoil me, Cariña." Gabriel grinned as she joined him and began pouring. He then laughed as she swallowed hers and made a face.

"I'm not a big hard liquor girl," she admitted.

"And you went out of your way to get some for me?"

"I like to keep my captain happy."

He couldn't miss this opportunity. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course." Her smile was contagious. "Oh!" She seemed to remember something, "I have something to tell you too!"

Valor was so eager it seemed unfair for him to go first. He busied himself with pouring another shot. "Go ahead."

"Oh, well it was recent, and I thought you should be the first to know since you're my captain," she rambled, "but Jack and I are kinda together."

The shot he had taken burned more than usual on its way down.

"Together?" Had he heard her right?

"Yeah!" Her smile was so bright it nearly hurt to look at.

Gabriel had to keep his hands busy. Another shot was poured and he downed it before raising his glass with a ghost of a smile. "Well, congratulations then."

"Thanks, Gabe!" She didn't seem to notice that he had forced his smile.

An ache settled into his chest as she continued the conversation by talking about the necklace he had given her for christmas; the same necklace she was wearing now. He was finally saved by the chanting countdown that could be heard from inside.

"Is it already midnight?" Valor made her way to the door. When he didn't follow she looked back expectantly.

"I'll come in later."

"Alright then, well enjoy the tequila!" She was halfway through the door when she turned back. "Oh, Gabe, you wanted to tell me something?" Her tone was hurried.

"It was nothing," he lied, fake smile in place.

* * *

Jack fought off a yawn. It was nearing one and the party was still in full swing, but all he wanted to do was go to bed.

His gaze drifted over the crowd of people before one figure caught his eye. One of the security guards was weaving their way around people, making a beeline towards him. Alarm bells immediately went off in his brain.

He met the man halfway. "Is there something wrong?"

"Sir, there's a bit of a situation outside."

"What kind?"

"Protesters have lined up and refuse to move. We've been trying to get them to leave all night but they're persistent. The media found out about it and now there's reporters everywhere too."

"Alright, I'll take care of it. Come with me." His expression was calm as he led the way to the front of the estate. Already news had spread through the room and now people were crowding around the doors.

The sea of people parted for him as he approached.

Bright lights shone in from the open doors and he could hear the sound of helicopters hovering above. Hundreds of people were surrounding the building, holding signs and shouting while reporters shoved mics towards him.

God, he could never catch a break.

"Is there any truth in these rumors?"

"Is there anything you can tell us about these anti-omnic protesters?"

"Commander Morrison, do you have any comments about your choice in Overwatch agents?"

None of the questions were about the fundraiser itself, but the last question made him pause. He didn't even know what these people were protesting about. Anti-omnic he got, but his choice in agents?

He took a second to look at the protesters, blocking out the press pushing him for answers. There were the common anti-omnic symbols and rhetoric of machines having no rights, but suddenly more signs began to pop up that he hadn't seen before.

"Demi-human" "Traitor" "Tinback" "Omnic bitch" and "Clanker cunt" were but a few.

"Jack, what's going on?"

Shit .

He turned and tried to guide Valor out of the way, but the damage had been done. The shouts grew louder and the crowd pushed further in.

"Get out Omni-cunt!"

"Is this about me?" Her face had gone pale and her eyes wide as she stared over his shoulder at the protesters.

The reporters couldn't even be heard over the crowd chanting.

Jack knew the situation was quickly getting out of hand. There were people pressing in from both sides of the door now, one crowd in anger and the other in curiousity. He started shouting orders to the security guards, trying desperately to gain some semblance of control.

Valor cried out from behind him and he spun around to find her bleeding. The crowd was now throwing whatever they could find at them, and a brick was lying at her feet. She cradled her cheek and stepped backwards, away from the protesters.

"Morrison!" Gabriel was pushing his way through the crowd inside.

"Reyes, get her out of here!" He shouted over the commotion and pushed Valor into the captain's arms.

It took hours before the situation was over.

Jack was still furious when he returned to the German watchpoint. He had refused to give any statements and many of his agents had had to step in to help security remove the protesters and reporters from the premises.

He tried to breathe through his anger as he made his way to the infirmary. However, as soon as he caught sight of Valor it flared up again.

Mascara stains ran down the side of her face that didn't have a large bandage on it; she clutched a blanket around herself and was staring blankly at the bed beneath her. Gabriel sat in a chair across the room, arms crossed and looking just as pissed as he was.

Gabe was the first to notice him and stood. He didn't say anything, but put a firm hand on his shoulder before leaving the room.

Jack sat on the hospital bed next to her and put a gentle hand on her back. "You wanna get out of here?"

There was a moment of hesitation before she nodded vigorously.

He stood again before picking her up and cradling her in his arms. Jack took them to his room. It was smaller, since this wasn't the headquarters, but it was private. Once he had her alone she began crying again. He held her in his lap and let her get it all out.

"They hate me," she sounded so dejected. "They don't even see me, they just see this thing ."

He didn't know what to say. Those people were ignorant and bigoted, there was nothing else to it.

"It's not me . It's a parasite for fuck's sake! If I could rip it off my spine I would!" Her voice steadily rose as she spoke, her fists clenching the sheets.

"I just want to help people." Valor ended softly.

Jack stroked her hair. "I know, baby, I know."

"What am I going to do?" Her voice cracked and she sobbed again.

He tilted her chin up to look at him. "Just do your job, and I'll handle the rest," he assured. "You're in Blackwatch, you're hardly in the public eye anyways."

"Maybe that's for the best."

* * *

Jack had nightmares for the next few days. He dreamed about Valor getting seriously injured rather than just a bit scraped up and bruised. When he woke up next to her he held her close, just to reassure himself that she was there and she was okay.

She didn't talk about that night again. Even after weeks had passed. Valor just smiled and continued on, either pretending that she was okay or that it had never happened; he didn't know which.

He was confused when Ana suddenly asked to speak with him alone over dinner.

"You know why I wanted to talk to you right?"

"Valor is fine, she didn't even get a concussion." He guessed at her reason. Jack took a moment to take a bite of his burger. " I'm going to prevent future incidents."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

He gave her a look that clearly conveyed that he had no clue what was going on.

Ana sighed. "Jack, you and Valor."

"What about us?" He asked defensively.

"I don't approve."

He paused, trying to determine if he had heard her right. His temper flared a bit, after everything that had happened this was what she wanted to tell him? "I don't think we need your approval, us being grown adults and all."

"I didn't mean to offend-"

"Well you did."

Ana ran a stressed hand through her hair. "Look, I saw what happened on New Year's, everyone did."

"And?"

"And our line of work is too dangerous for you to be making calls with your heart instead of your head. Valor wasn't seriously injured, she could have made a statement to the press or done something to de-escalate the situation but you rushed her out of there."

"I would have done the same for any one of my other agents."

Ana didn't have to call him on his lie, she just had to give him that look . He had panicked and put her above everything else.

"There will be calls you'll have to make that could lead to death for either one of you, Jack. Are you prepared to make them?"


	9. Chapter 9

I lost my muse for a little while but hopefully it's back for good! I want to thank everyone for their comments. Seriously, you all make writing so rewarding for me and I hope you enjoy my story just as much. Can't wait to hear some comments from this chap I'm really proud of it!

* * *

It was storming fiercely when Jack and Valor arrived at Watchpoint Gibraltar.

Winston had gotten Lena to fly them there, as she was currently the only pilot they could trust. She had been overjoyed to see them, even with Jack dressed in his Soldier 76 getup. Valor still didn't know how she hadn't realized earlier that it was him. For god's sake, the bags he was lugging around with his supplies even had Overwatch logos on them.

Valor shielded her face from the pelting rain with a hand as they rushed across the tarmac and towards the main building.

"It's good to see you back in action, Commander!" Lena commented happily as she pressed her hand to the scanner by the door.

"I'm not your commander anymore, Oxton." Jack responded gruffly.

Valor watched as her smile faded a bit. "Ah, right. Well it's still good to see the both of you again."

The metal door slid open and Valor shivered as the air conditioning hit her wet clothes. "Has anyone else shown up?"

"Well, Winston's been cooped up here for a while, McCree came a few days ago, and then there's me and you two!"

"That's all of us?" Jack didn't sound impressed.

"Only for right now," Lena explained as she led them through the vacant halls, "I don't know if you've heard of Hana Song or Lúcio but we recruited them too."

"A bunch of kids?"

"It's better than nothing," Valor snapped. She was grateful that he even came, but she could do without his sour attitude.

The conversation halted as Lena led them into the barracks. These were significantly smaller than those at the main headquarters. Rows of beds lined the walls, each with their own foot locker. Only a few of them were made, no doubt due to their small numbers.

Lena said to find them in Winston's lab when they were done getting settled in before she was gone in a flash, leaving them alone.

Valor carried her bags to an unclaimed bed before unceremoniously tossing them on it. She pulled out some dry clothes before beginning to strip.

"Why did you even come with me?" She asked, not bothering to look over at Jack.

The rustling of clothes as he changed was her only answer.

Valor was cold, grumpy, and not in the mood for his bullshit. "You could have just left me like you planned on doing in the first place."

She tugged a sweater over her head a moment before she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"It's not like that, V."

Valor rounded on him. "Then what is it, Jack? You weren't going to leave on that bus?"

"I just want you to be safe."

She couldn't have known all the thoughts that went through his head as he waited at that bus stop. How badly he had wanted to turn around and go back to her.

But he knew better. He was wanted by nearly everyone, eventually someone would find out about them. Jack couldn't bear the thought of his enemies using her against him.

"I came because I want to know what Winston is planning, and to keep you out of trouble."

She laughed at that, and he was glad to see her sour expression evaporate. "That's never stopped me before."

Jack rolled his eyes. "And that's why I worry."

"Yeah, because I'm the one who's been getting in fights with gangs and terrorists for the last few years." Valor quipped as they left the barracks.

"Touché."

Awnings sheltered them from the rain as they made their way to the main complex.

"What do you think made Winston send out the recall?"

"That's what we're looking to find out, right?" Jack held open the door for her and they entered the large building together. "Something must have spooked him. Winston's always been a bit of a stickler when it comes to rules, and especially the law. This is definitely illegal, so it must be important."

"Do you think you'll stay?" They marched forward, the wet soles of their shoes squeaking slightly in the empty hall. "I mean if it's so important that Overwatch is needed again we'll need a commander too."

Jack didn't want to tell Valor that he hated all this "commander" talk. The thought of leading them once more made his stomach turn unpleasantly. After what had happened in Switzerland he was no longer sure that he was ever fit to lead them in the first place."I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to that."

They were quickly approaching three figures standing by a console projecting a holo globe. Lena, Winston, and-God, was that McCree?

"Jesse?" Valor's voice sounded close to breaking, and it was only then that he remembered how close they had been in Blackwatch.

The cowboy turned, his face breaking into a wide smile. Jack watched a she ran up to him and threw her arms around his shoulders.

"Look at you! You're all grown up!" She exclaimed as she moved to hold him at arm's length.

Jack couldn't help his small smile at the scene. It had really been a long time since they were all together.

"Darlin', how's it I got old and you still look the damned same?" McCree looked up at Jack briefly and nodded towards him. "Well, guess I ain't the only one who got old at least, huh, Morrison?"

Jack chuckled at that.

"Hey!" Valor swatted McCree's shoulder lightly, "I bet that old man could still kick your ass!"

"Haven't gotten rusty yet." All of the small talk, all of the camaraderie, made him feel like he _was_ back in Overwatch again. He had missed this, even if he didn't want to admit it.

Winston cleared his throat, bringing them out of their conversation.

"Winston," Valor moved to hug him as well, "it's good to see you again!"

"How has your back been? No troubles?"

"Not since you fixed it, what, 15 something years ago?" She teased.

They all grew silent. It was hard to believe how long it had been.

"Winston," Jack finally spoke up, "there must have been a reason for this recall?"

"Oh, yes, well there was a break-in here. Talon was looking for information, but I was able to keep them at bay." He adjusted his glasses. "Athena and I have upgraded our security systems, but with everything that's been going on in the world...it just seemed like the right time."

"Seems almost inevitable," Valor said softly as she crossed her arms and rested her back against the console.

"It was only a matter of time," Lena agreed, "things have been boiling over and I think it's about time we do something about it."

"At what cost?" Jack couldn't help but try to be the voice of reason. Everything he had done, he had done on his own. But organizing and bringing Overwatch back was something else entirely. "As far as I've heard the UN hasn't changed their minds about the Petras Act."

"Keep our heads low enough and they won't know about it."

"Yeah we've always been good at that haven't we, McCree?" Jack took a deep breath, he could tell by all of their expressions that their decisions were already made. "I'm not saying no, I just want you all to know what you're getting yourselves into." God, he had to stop himself, he was already sounding like their commander again.

"Is it right," Valor quickly shifted the conversation, "us bringing these new kids into this?"

"They haven't exactly kept it a secret that they've been inspired by Overwatch. I asked and they said yes." Winston assured.

"They've got the heart," Jack found himself saying, "but I don't doubt that they'll need training."

"This facility is big enough and secure enough. It's not the most remote watchpoint but I think we can stay out of trouble if we set our base of operations here." Winston seemed to have thought this through a great deal.

It took a moment before Jack realized all eyes were on him, waiting for his approval. He wanted to snap at them, to tell them that he wasn't their goddamn commander anymore. But he didn't, knowing how that outburst would hurt Valor most of all.

"Fine. We can see how this goes." Jack wished he could ignore how Valor's eyes lit up happily at his words.

"We'll have to start with getting the facility up and running again. I've only been able to maintain about half by myself." Winston began to speak, and again surprised Jack with how much he had thought through. He had always been a great scientist, but a leader? He wasn't sure.

"We can start with the range and the barracks," Lena chimed in, "we'll need the extra room once more people arrive and a place to train."

"No offense, but I don't fancy another night in that cramped room with y'all." Jesse looked pointedly at Lena, "You know you snore, right?"

The brunette turned bright red, sputtering excuses about how Emily didn't seem to mind.

They decided they would turn on the power to the rest of the facility tomorrow and then get to work cleaning the barracks and private quarters.

The hour was growing late and it was clear that they were all tired. All together, they headed back to their small living area. The rain had started to abate, only the soft patter of a few drops could now be heard on the metal awning.

Jack was at least glad everything had been straightforward, but it seemed that tonight had been the easy part. There was much to be done and, while he was happy to see everyone again, he was not looking forward to it. In truth, he wished that he and Valor were still back in her apartment. It was strange to think that it had been only days ago that they sat and drank happily on her couch.

He looked over at her, sitting on the bed next to his and pulling off her shoes. Jack knew that this had made her happy, and for that he was glad. But he wondered if she knew that this wasn't going to be like the Overwatch she remembered.

Something caught her attention, and he looked to find that her eyes were on McCree. A somber expression crossed her face as he sat in a tank top, fiddling with his robotic arm.

Jack didn't need to guess at what she was thinking about.

* * *

"Get suited up, Morales, we've got a mission."

Valor peered over the book she was reading as Gabriel entered the common room.

"We?" She had only been on a few missions with Gabe. Mostly she had only been deployed with Jesse and a few others from Blackwatch. A smile crossed her face, she enjoyed going on missions with her captain, it gave her the opportunity to impress him. Valor always liked how he would try to hide his grin from her in an attempt to remain professional, but ultimately failing.

"You, me, McCree, and the head honcho himself."

"Jack is going with us?" Her voice clearly conveyed her surprise at this. She had had, what, one or two missions with him? It was certainly out of the ordinary.

"We've got a hostage situation. He's hoping he can talk it through but I'm not so sure. It's covert op so that's why we're going. I'll meet you in the hangar in five, Morales."

His sentences were clipped and he had used her surname more in that conversation than since they had met. Something was wrong, and she couldn't tell if it was simply that the mission was that serious.

Valor suited up, her movements quick and methodical, before heading towards the hangar. The base was busy as usual, but no one was rushed or in a panic. She wondered if they had gone through great lengths to keep the hostage situation from getting out.

The others were already there when she arrived, dressed and armed and expressions grim. She offered them a small smile as she approached, even if it did nothing to lighten the mood it made her feel better.

Only when they were all loaded up into a plane did Jack debrief them on the mission.

"Several key members of parliament have been captured by a group of omnics a few hours north of here. They've agreed to not get the media involved as long as their demands are met. They want us to give them weapons, which is clearly not an option. I can try to talk them down, but if things go south, well, we know what to do."

Jack pulled up a holo map on the console. "They picked a good spot, surrounded by hills on several sides and mountains on the others. They will have soldiers stationed here, and here," he pointed to several spots on the hills that pinged red as he touched them. "There are two buildings in the compound, and they haven't told us which contains the hostages. They mean to split us up, which is just fine. Valor, Jesse, you're on the forward team with me. While we search one building Gabe will sneak into the other."

Valor's body tensed as he went over the plans. This was definitely the most important mission she had ever been included in. She mentally reassured herself that she could do this, it was what she had been training for.

"We'll do a heat sweep of the compound when we land, try to get a better reading of where the hostages are and what we're up against. Any questions?"

"Why did they choose a location so close to the headquarters?" It was something that had been bothering her from the beginning.

Valor could feel the intensity of Jack's gaze as it fell on her. "They want to send a message: they're closer and more capable than we thought."

They were dismissed to roam the open cargo bay of the plane, the ride so smooth that they could walk around freely. It would be at least another hour or so before they arrived at their destination. Valor moved from the small group of men to sit down on a storage crate a good distance away.

Valor's foot tapped the ground rapidly, her pent up energy needing an outlet. After a while she pulled up the map Jack had shown them on her HUD. She looked at all of the points he had indicated, wondering briefly how many forces the omnics had, and if they were spread thin. The other thing that bothered her was how the hell they were going to get out with the hostages. Already they would have to land the plane about twenty minutes away and walk to the compound.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Jack sat down next to her.

"Deep in thought?" He asked as she shut down her HUD. "You okay?" He seemed to take her silence as fear, and she couldn't blame him, the mission was daunting.

"I'm fine, just trying to focus on the mission." She smiled at him and was happy to find that he smiled back.

"It'll be fine," he assured, "we're all very capable." Jack leaned over and kissed her on the head, his lips pressed into her hair and resting there for a moment.

Valor enjoyed the small moment of intimacy, it helped to calm her nerves and reminded her that Jack was here for her. "Thanks, I-" The plane jolted suddenly, cutting her off and nearly throwing her into Jack's lap.

"We must be beginning our descent," he helped steady her before standing. Suddenly he was her commander again, "Let's get moving."

A sweep of the compound confused them more than it helped. Both buildings had heat signatures in them, human and omnic, and far more than there should have been.

"Well they ain't dumb," Jesse commented.

"We don't know that there's even anyone in them at all," Valor voiced as her boots crunched on the hard snow.

"Stick to the plan. Gabe, you take the north building, we'll take the south."

They split off, each of them carrying their own thoughts and worries.

Jack took point as Valor and Jesse followed, their eyes flitting to any potential threats. The wind whipped through the metal sidings of the large building, causing an eerie howl to drown out all other noise. A shiver went through her as the cold bit through her jumpsuit.

Her hand instinctively moved to her gun as they approached the wide entrance. The door and building were shoddily built, making this place more of a dilapidated ghost town than a compound. The metal squealed as Jack pulled the door to the side, the noise grating against her senses.

There was no time to hesitate, as soon as the door was open wide enough they filed into the building.

The first thing that hit her was how empty the large building was. They all checked their respective corners only to find nothing. The building had an open floor plan much like the hangar at the base, so it was easy to sweep. Snow had found its way through the gaps in the siding and had created a few drifts around the room. Other than scrap metal littering the floor there was nothing. Nothing but the sound of the wind still howling outside.

"I don't much like this," McCree murmured, backing up towards the door.

Jack hushed him. "We've got an empty building over here. Tell me you've got something. Over."

Valor's radio crackled to life in her ear, picking up interference from the growing storm. "I think I hear voices inside mine. Need a closer look. Over." Gabriel's voice was nearly drowned out by the wind in the background.

Jesse and Valor crept closer to Jack, both taking comfort in his calm presence.

They could do nothing but wait for Gabriel's response. Valor's gaze swept the room for the umpteenth time, but this time something caught her eye.

A small device was buried beneath bits of metal and snow. Still, she didn't know how she hadn't seen it the first time.

She grabbed the small box, bringing it over to the others. "I think this is the transmitter that interfered with our heat sweep," Valor announced, rubbing her thumb over the warm surface before handing it to Jack. "There are probably several scattered around the room."

"Nicely done. Now if Gabe would just-"

"Morrison, we've got a problem. My building is empty, just had an audio transmitter in it. Over."

"Keep the line open until we figure out what's going on. Sweep the room again." Jack ordered.

Valor and Jesse both moved to opposite corners, searching the room for transmitters or anything else that might indicate what was happening.

She returned to Jack in the middle of the room with several transmitters piled in her arms before dumping them with the others.

"I…" Jesse cleared his throat, "those lights were green before, right?"

They all looked to the boxes, the glowing lights on them were now blinking red.

Valor heard Jack call for them to run before her vision exploded into smoke and flame.

She was lying on the ground, dazed. Something was on her, something heavy. Her eyes cracked open and she took in the scorched ground.

Jack had pushed her, that much she could now remember. Valor had been prepared to phase her body through the explosion. Jack had hit her mid phase, simultaneously phasing his body and hers. It was something she didn't even know she could do, but it had saved them from the initial blast.

Valor sat up slowly, her spine aching. Numbly, she realised her right leg wasn't responding to her. She looked down, surprised to see that her bone was sticking clean through her skin.

The shock quickly wore off and a scream ripped through her as the pain came into sharp relief. She had phased through the blast, but upon regaining her physical form a beam of metal had fallen and broken her tibia.

Tears streamed down her face as she tried to gain some semblance of control. She took several deep breaths, wondering where the hell Jack was.

She looked at her leg again and immediately regretted it. Valor twisted to the side, vomiting onto the snow covered ground until her sickness had subsided to dry heaving.

Valor ground her teeth together. She needed to get up and find the others. After a few more deep breaths she grabbed her thigh before phasing her leg through the metal and moving it away.

She heaved a sigh of relief, that wasn't half as bad as she thought it was going to be. Now, though, she had to move.

It took her several moments before she was able to stand, supporting herself on the same metal beam that had broken her leg. Valor's vision was slightly obstructed by smoke but she could make out two figures across the room.

"We need you here asap," Jack's voice grew clearer as she limped closer.

Her radio and HUD were busted, which explained why no one had heard her. Based on the wind roaring outside she could guess that the storm had only gotten worse.

"Jack," Valor called and inhaled a bit of smoke, sending her into a coughing fit.

"Valor?" His head jerked towards her. "Hey, it's alright," he said as he approached, noticing the tears streaming down her face.

He quickly helped her over to where McCree was lying, propping her back up against the wall.

Her gaze trailed away from Jack and over to Jesse. He was unconscious, his face dirty and slick with sweat. Her focus was drawn to a splash of red on the snow. It took Valor a moment to process that his left arm was completely gone, his wound was wrapped and only the tattered remains of his shirt were left.

Tears pricked at her eyes as she tried to recall what had happened. If Jack had gone for Jesse instead of her, would it have saved him? Or would they both be just as injured?

Valor's leg gave a sharp twinge and she whimpered, teeth digging into her bottom lip.

"Valor."

She didn't respond, couldn't respond.

"Valor, look at me. Your body is trying to heal the wound and you need to stop it. If it closes around your bone it might make it more difficult to fix later."

Her eyes cracked open to see that he was right, already the blood was subsiding and the wound was closing. It was hard to concentrate through the pain, but she was at least able to slow the healing.

"Is an evac coming?" Her eyes were trained on Jesse, already determined that she was at fault here.

"Gabriel is pinned down in the other building and the weather's gotten so bad we can't get any other forces in. We're on our own for now."

She wished he would reassure her instead, tell her that help was coming, even if it was a lie.

"There were never any hostages, were there?" She was crying, it seemed it was the only thing she could do right now.

"Guess not," Jack responded gruffly.

Jesse woke then, crying out in pain. Valor was already at his side, holding onto his right hand even though it felt like he was trying to squeeze the life from her fingers.

"It's alright, Jesse, help is coming. You just gotta stay with me." If Jack wasn't going to lie then she would, for McCree's sake.

* * *

The storm broke at dawn, freeing up the skies for backup and an evac.

Valor was still awake when the helicopter for her and Jesse landed. He was cold, his tanned skin paler than she had ever seen it. Her concern for him had kept her mind off of her own pain. Even on the helicopter she kept asking for more blankets for him until her fatigue caught up with her and she passed out.

She woke up again in a hospital room. It was dark, except for the lights of the machines beeping next to her. She was alone, and she supposed she was grateful for that. Valor had thought that at least Jack would be there, though, waiting for her to wake up.

Realistically, she knew he would be up to his neck in interviews and paperwork after everything that had happened.

The door cracked open and interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, you're awake!" Angela had come in to check on her. "How are you feeling?" She flipped on the lights, momentarily blinding Valor.

"I was better before those lights were on," she whined.

Angela gave her a half-hearted smile before turning her attention to Valor's leg.

"Is Jesse alright?" She asked through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the doctors poking and prodding.

"He's doing well. I actually discharged him yesterday, and Torbjörn is already working on an arm for him."

Valor closed her eyes as Angela continued speaking. So it hadn't been a terrible dream after all. Jesse had really lost his arm.

"Don't worry, Valor," Angela comforted upon seeing her tears, "Jesse is coping well and even seems excited about what upgrades Torbjorn could put in his arms. He even mentioned a flamethrower at one point!" She gave her an encouraging smile.

Valor offered her a small smile, trying desperately to accept what she said as true.

This seemed to appease her for the time being. "Your leg is healing well, but you'll still be limping for a while. I can discharge you today if you'd like."

"That would be great," she responded softly, "thank you."

Angela took a moment to tap a few things into her datapad. "Would you like any crutches? They might help."

"I think I can manage without them." Valor took a deep breath before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. So far so good. Slowly she stood, finding her balance almost immediately, but still having to limp over to Angela.

The doctor determined that she was fine to leave and removed her IV before sending her on her way.

Valor's first thoughts were to find Jack, but after only a few steps down the hall she figured setting a reasonable goal like her bedroom was best. She hobbled down the halls, which were thankfully mostly empty.

Her room felt further away than ever, but finally she made it and collapsed onto her bed. It was soft and inviting, the sheets cool as she pulled them over her warm body, nearly sweating from the effort it took to get there.

Almost immediately she was enveloped in a blissful sleep, luckily undisturbed by any nightmares.

She woke to darkness again, tongue feeling heavy and with a serious case of cotton mouth.

The halls were still empty as she walked the small distance to the common room for some water. Her leg already felt better than before, either a testament her own healing or Angela's.

When she entered the common room she was immediately greeted by the light from the fridge, its door swung wide open.

"Hello?" She called out softly, not seeing anyone around.

There was silence, and then a small sniffling noise from behind the counter. Valor moved quickly, recognising the noise as crying. She barely had a moment to wonder who was there before spotting Jesse.

He was slumped, back against the island with a beer bottle in his hand and several scattered around his feet.

She was immediately at his side, not to scold him for drinking or for being out of bed, but to hold him. Valor embraced him tightly, propping her chin on the top on his head. Jesse tensed for a moment before melting into her embrace, sobs shaking his body.

"I'm so sorry, Jesse, I'm so sorry." She began to cry. "I should have," Valor swallowed thickly, "I should have protected you. You don't have to pretend to be strong, not in front of me."


	10. Chapter 10

Writing this chapter was really fun~

A new chapter should be up soon I'm almost done editing it!

Enjoy and feel free to tell me what you think.

* * *

Valor huffed as she carried a heavy crate up the stairs, towards the firing range they had previously cleaned up. She wasn't sure how she had gotten stuck with the heavy lifting when super- soldier was in the nice air conditioning talking to Winston about their next move.

She carefully set the crate down on the metal flooring before wiping away the sweat that had been stinging her eyes. Valor hopped on top of the crate to rest for a moment before going back to work.

Valor wondered if maybe Jack was more attached to the commander position than he let on. That would explain why he wanted to be informed of everything that went on around here, down to the last ammo crate. However, she wondered if it was simply because he didn't trust them, and that thought hurt a bit more. After all these years how could he not trust them? _They_ weren't the ones who blew up the Swiss headquarters.

Valor sighed and leaned back. That wasn't fair of her to think. No one really knew what had happened in Switzerland, no one except Jack and Gabriel, and one of them was dead.

She closed her eyes, trying to will the thoughts about her former captain away. Valor had done so well to push him to the back of her mind at all times. It almost hurt more to think about now that she knew Jack was alive, because it meant Gabe wasn't coming back. If he was alive she knew Jack would have told her.

Her sharp hearing picked up the loud sound of a ship incoming, though it was still many miles off. It was enough to distract her and she hopped down from the crate. Hana and Lucio were set to arrive by boat either today or tomorrow so she figured it must be them.

Valor arrived at the docks a few minutes later, unsurprised to find that Lena had beaten her there.

"Ready for the new recruits?"

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about them. And as much as I love you guys it'll be nice to have some fresh faces around here."

Lena laughed at that. "Not quite as many as we were used to, but I'm sure more people will be happy to join us!"

Valor could just now make out the small boat on the horizon. She tilted her head and sent Lena a smile, "You're probably right. I guess I'm just itching for something to do other than cleaning."

"Aren't we all." McCree had arrived behind them, as well as Jack and Winston.

They settled into silence, all of them watching as the boat came steadily closer. The next thing on their agenda would be training the new arrivals, which meant even more time before they started to do any missions. The thought irritated her a bit, considering how dire Winston had made the situation with Talon out to be.

The boat arrived and their rushed introductions were almost a blur, like most first meetings. Hana and Lucio were led to their rooms and given time to settle in.

They all had dinner together that night, a change from usually grabbing food whenever they happened to be hungry. It was nice, almost like their little family was back together. Hana and Lucio fit in well and seemed eager to start helping out and training. Both of them were talkative and lit up the room with their presence. It made her wonder if the rest of them had been that way, before everything had happened.

Jack left the table early and without a word. She couldn't help but wonder if this had brought back too many memories for him. But where she had embraced the nostalgic feeling he only wanted to run away.

Valor went to her room that night feeling happier than before and hoping that, against all odds, their little team could make a difference.

The next morning came with more work, which meant lugging more heavy boxes.

It was around noon when Valor took a break. She took a moment to sit, legs dangling off the side of the metal platform. Valor redid her bun and watched the water for a bit. Gibraltar had always been one of her favorite watchpoints. After every mission here her team would swim in the waters below, but it felt wrong doing it now. Instead she contented herself to sitting there and reveling in the memory of it.

Footsteps interrupted her thoughts, the clanking of shoes on metal stairs louder than usual to her sensitive hearing. She was pleasantly surprised to find Hana making her way up the steps.

"Not much cardio in a mech, huh?" Valor asked upon noticing that she was slightly out of breath.

"You could say that," she laughed it off with a smile. "That's actually why I came."

"For cardio?"

Hana laughed again and Valor found it almost contagious. "No, no, my mech came in today so I thought you might want help with the heavy lifting!"

Valor couldn't help but smile widely, "Yes, please! God, it's been so hot and those crates weigh a ton. With your help we could probably move everything by the end of the day!"

"I'm happy to help! Just show me what needs moving and I'll start."

Hana made quick work in her mech, and Valor was amazed at the precision in which she piloted it. She had no doubt that she would be essential to the team.

Valor didn't let Hana move everything herself though, and insisted on moving some of it as well. They made quick work of it and it wasn't long before she was standing in front of the empty corner of the hangar they had just cleared. Valor put her hands on her hips, satisfied that the work was done and she had gotten her first good workout in a while from it.

"How did you do that?" Valor looked in the direction of Hana's voice to find her trying to lift up a corner of a box she had just moved, with little avail.

"Stop, stop," Valor laughed as she jogged over. "You need one of these."

Hana stared at her for a moment, perplexed, as she tried to figure out what she was talking about.

"Oh!" Valor spun around lifting the back of her tank top up, revealing the parasite. "This!"

"Oh wow, I mean I've heard about it but I never expected to see it." Hana lifted her hand only to lower it again. "Can I touch it?"

Valor shrugged, no one had ever asked her that before. "Sure, why not? Can I ask you something though? I knew that Overwatch agents identities were public knowledge for the most part but how did you even hear about me? I wasn't exactly ever in the spotlight."

She could feel Hana's fingers drifting across the metal on her back. "I know it was a long time ago, but I saw the one time that you _were_ in the spotlight. I was still very little, but I remember watching it in the living room with my parents."

"Oh," Valor said sourly, already knowing what she was talking about.

"I'm sorry," one more swipe of her finger across metal before she stepped away. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Valor forced herself to relax. Hana had sounded sincere. Besides, that had been a long time ago and she should have let it go by now. Somehow she couldn't, not while knowing that the world had changed very little since then.

"It's fine, honestly that was probably one of the worst nights of my life," Valor said, trying to laugh it off.

Hana's face remained serious. "Can I tell you why seeing that news report was so important to me?"

Valor was completely thrown off by the events that were unfolding. Not knowing how to respond, she simply nodded.

She watched as Hana fiddled with a lock of hair, her face slowly turning pink in embarrassment of what she was about to confess. "It was important because I saw you were scared. It showed me that even heroes were scared sometimes, but that it didn't stop them from being heroes. I've—I try to remember that whenever I'm in combat." She mumbled the last sentence quickly, concluding her heartfelt monologue and looking away. In that moment she was just Hana, a nineteen year old gamer who had met her hero. MEKA, Overwatch, none of it mattered right now.

Valor was too stunned to say anything for a moment. She had almost forgotten how the others had been regarded as heroes by much of the public. But no one had ever looked at her that way before. Her heart swelled with emotion, her thoughts drawn to the father she had barely known. A hero, that's what people had called him. She had never known whether or not she wanted to be a hero, but she knew now.

She could be a hero if it meant inspiring the same hope she saw in Hana's eyes.

Valor swiped away a tear before it could fall and laughed. "You know if Lena were here I'm sure she'd say something inspiring like 'The world could always use more heroes!'. I'm sorry I don't have anything like that but I just want to say that I'm glad I'll be fighting side by side with you."

Hana looked perplexed for a moment before she bust out laughing. "You realize you did _just_ say something cool and inspiring!"

Valor covered her mouth with a hand before smiling, "Oh no, I must be getting old if those kinds of things slip out so easily. Well, at least I'm not the oldest here, Jack has me beat on that one."

"Were you two close when you were in Overwatch?"

Valor half-smiled. "You could say that. We ended up running a few missions together."

She had begun to lead them out of the hangar, headed to sit on the top of a building to watch the sun set. Hana didn't say anything else until they were seated, both of them watching as the sun glittered orange off of the waves below.

"Sorry, but I really have to ask, were you guys a thing?"

"How perceptive," Valor undid her bun before laying back to watch as the sky darkened and gave way to stars.

"When we had dinner last night he couldn't keep his eyes off of you," Hana sounded more than a little embarrassed for him.

Valor snorted. "He always tries to act like he's so 'professional'," she punctuated the word with air quotes. "The man doesn't know what he wants, he never has."

She crossed her arms. Maybe she was revealing a bit much, but she had gotten caught up on talking about the past. Besides, Hana was an eager listener.

"But you still want him anyways."

"Yeah, I do." Sadness crept into her voice despite her best effort to keep it out.

They both grew silent for a while, listening as the waves crashed on the cliffs.

Valor smiled and turned to Hana, ready to shake off the memories of her past. "Will you tell me something about yourself?

She turned to her. "Like what?"

"Like anything! Favorite color, childhood pets, anything you want."

"Hmm. Favorite color, pink. I had a bunny named JoJo growing up." Hana counted the two out on her fingers before turning to her and shrugging. "I dunno, I just like to play video games and stuff. My turn, does Jesse wear the cowboy outfit unironically?"

They went on asking questions back and forth like that for a while. It was only when Valor noticed lights flicking off in the barracks did she insist they go to bed.

Hana's room was the closest and they stopped once they were outside her door.

"Thanks again for the help with those boxes. Oh, and I would suggest you and Lucio get ready for training. I'm sure it'll start soon."

"Are you training us?" Hana sounded hopeful.

"I can try, but I'm not sure what the others have planned. It might be all of us or it might be one of us. I'll make sure to ask Jack tomorrow and let you know."

They then said goodnight and Valor made her way back to her room. The hallway was dark and quiet, everyone else having already gone to bed. She hadn't even realized they had stayed up so late talking.

When she arrived at her door she could see light shining through the crack at the bottom. Valor already knew it was Jack before she walked in.

"Need something?" She asked cooly upon entering the room. Part of her wanted to be happy to see him, but she had been upset ever since he had left her apartment without saying goodbye.

"You missed dinner." He was sitting on the edge of her bed, on the table across from him was a plate with a sandwich on it.

"Oh, yeah. I was talking to Hana and forgot." She crossed the room to grab clothes and a towel. "Was that all? Because I need to shower."

"You'll need to leave tomorrow."

She didn't turn to look at him, instead her hands clenched around the towel. "Why?"

"We need you to do some recon, and everyone else sticks out a little too much."

"What about training Hana and Lucio?" Valor had desperately looked forward to helping them.

"We'll handle it. I just want you to focus on the objective."

The bed creaked as he stood. She wanted to refuse him, to tell him that since he didn't want to be the commander anymore then he couldn't order her around like he was one.

When she turned he was already at the door. "Jack, wait."

He turned to her, eyes filled with some unknown hope. Maybe he was hoping she would fling her arms around him and kiss him, maybe even hoping she would ask him to stay. She wanted to do both, but it was time she either got answers or moved on. Valor couldn't continue this way, hoping beyond all hope that he would do or say something that would change everything that happened.

"Did you really want to leave me? Are you so afraid of losing me that you'll give up being with me at all?" She needed his answer.

"It doesn't matter what I want." His eyes were downcast, as if not looking at her would make everything easier.

Valor dropped her things and went to him. "Look at me," she demanded and tilted his chin up.

It was the first time she had touched him since they had been in her apartment. It wasn't the same though. Her touch was rough compared to how gentle and tentatively she had touched him then, as if he might disappear permanently.

"Kiss me now if you want me, because you already know I would kiss you in a heartbeat. If you don't, then leave." Valor realized that this was it, this could make or break them

His blue eyes were wide, a decision had been placed before him that he hadn't anticipated. Valor was everything. Despite it all she was the reason he woke up in the morning, she was the reason he wanted to make the world a better place. He had run out of time.

Her touch set his skin on fire in ways he hadn't felt since he was young. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. Gorgeous and terrifying, her eyes bore holes into him. He wanted to surrender to her heated gaze, to reveal everything to her that he felt.

"Jack?" Her hand was still on his cheek, the other had moved to the center of his chest. Her voice saying his name was like a sirens call, one he desperately wished to follow.

"V," his voice was soft as he pulled her hand away from his face, "I can't."

He had his reasons, ones he couldn't reveal to her, not without hurting her more. Jack knew _he_ was out there.

When he looked up again he found her eyes were cold, her expression full of anger and hurt before she reined it into a mask of impassiveness.

"Then leave."

* * *

By the next week Valor had recovered from her injuries. McCree was still having a hard time coping with his. His new metal hand couldn't fight off the nightmares, but she could help.

Her door was always unlocked in case he needed her. He was her best friend here, and she felt responsible for what had happened, even if it wasn't truly her fault.

Jesse ended up in her bed most nights. They would usually stay up and talk about things, even occasionally cry together. She would reassure him that eventually things would be okay again, even if she wasn't sure of it herself.

Jack had practically been missing since they had come back from that mission, she wasn't sure if he was simply caught up in work or avoiding her. In comparison she saw Gabriel all the time. He was constantly worried and checking in on her, which made her reconsider if he had really even been upset with her before the mission.

If there was even one bright side to this it was that it gave her some down time. She had finished several books and could do yoga whenever she pleased rather than rushing from training to meetings to missions. It couldn't last though, she knew that, but even the thought of another mission filled her with anxiety. The thought of someone else getting hurt was almost too much to bear.

But she would have to bear it. If she wasn't there then who would watch her teammates backs? They needed her, and she would be there for them.

Days came and went with little change. She hadn't seen Jack for nearly a whole week and was getting tired of waiting for him to come to her. It hurt a little too, that he hadn't come to see her more when she really could have used his support.

What was done was done though, and if it was because of his job as commander then she couldn't fault him for it. Instead she dressed and got ready to leave her room to find him. It was evening so hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to track him down. She could visit the mess hall first, she thought while she dressed, and if he's not there she could always pick him up a slice of apple pie and check his office.

She was determined until she reached her door, with a simple touch on the handle she could tell that there was someone on the other side. Jesse maybe, or Gabe, she wasn't sure.

Instead of either of the two she opened the door to find the man that she was looking for in the first place. "Jack!" Her face lit up upon seeing him, "I was just about to go find you."

He wore a half-smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she stepped aside, still smiling and blind to his distress. Valor had missed him so much lately, but she hadn't even realised how much until she saw him. His presence alone was able to light up her dim room and she couldn't help but admire him as he moved past her.

"Sorry I haven't been around much. Work is...well, you know. And I had to think some things over." He hadn't sat down on her bed like she had expected him to, instead he had simply stopped, hands clenched at his sides and facing away from her.

"Are you okay, Jack? I know things have been rough, but I'm here. You know you can always talk to me-"

"Stop."

"What?" His tone was harsh and she was taken aback.

"This is already hard enough, Valor. Please don't make it harder."

It felt like a vice was being squeezed around her heart. "What are you talking about?"

He turned to her then and she could finally see the anger and sadness in his eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I made a mistake last mission. I knew you could phase your body through the explosion, I knew you would probably be perfectly fine, but then I still chose to try to shield you over McCree."

She could see that this had been tormenting him, just as it had her.

"Everything happened so fast, Jack, it's not your fault."

"It is though, V. My decision could have changed everything, but instead of listening to my head I listened to my heart." He turned away from her, "I can't let this happen again. I'm so sorry."

Her hands were trembling now. She already knew in her heart what he meant, but every inch of her was screaming that this wasn't real. She needed Jack, maybe even more than he knew.

"Please, don't." Valor's voice nearly broke as she tried to keep her tears at bay.

"I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice, Jack!"

"Not in this." He said softly. "Too many people are relying on me."

"I'm relying on you! Don't I matter?"

"Of course you do." He looked back at her, his eyes mirroring her look of hurt. "Which is why I have to do this, to keep you safe."

Jack approached her, his hand cupping her cheek before gently stroking her hair, maybe for the last time. He had to do this. Ana had been right all along. He couldn't do his job as commander as well as have Valor. If it was up to him he would have her leave Overwatch, but he knew it was something she would never agree to. All he wanted to do was keep her out of harm's way, and if her living meant that he couldn't be with her then so be it. His suffering meant nothing in comparison.

Suddenly she was kissing him. He could taste her desperation in the salty tears on his tongue. Jack could have caved in, he could have melted into her kiss as he had done so many times before.

He pulled away. "Valor, I'm sorry. This isn't what I wanted."

* * *

Valor was already crying by the time she reached the shower. All of this had only brought up more terrible memories. Her heart hurt just as it had that day, like nothing had even changed between then and now.

She didn't want to remember how much she had cried after he left her, or how she would stare at the necklace he had given her, or how nothing had changed. She didn't want any of it. Valor had tried everything, but he still wouldn't budge, still wouldn't stop feeding her the lie that somehow this was keeping her safe.

What point was there in being safe if she wasn't happy.

It didn't matter. Jack had made his decision and now she would make hers. She wouldn't be strung around begging him to come back. Valor was going to do this mission, and the mission after it, and the mission after that. Just as she had always done. Maybe it really was time for her to move on.

Overwatch was all she had known for so long, and now that it was back it was all she needed.

Valor rolled out of bed not feeling better, but at least feeling more determined. She dressed in a tank top and pulled her jumpsuit up to her waist before tying it off. The halls were empty but she could hear a commotion going near the firing range. Hana and Lucio must have already started training, but she couldn't think about that now.

Instead of heading in the direction of the noise she went to Winston's lab. If Jack wasn't their leader then Winston was the closest thing they had to one.

"Knock knock!" She called out more cheerfully than she felt as she entered the large space.

Valor caught sight of him working diligently in front of a computer. He finished whatever he was doing and swiveled in his chair.

"You're up early," he commented upon checking the time.

"Should I not be?"

"No it's perfect, we need to talk about your mission anyways." He stretched before standing and ambling over to the holo map.

"Full disclosure, Winston, I know I was a part of Blackwatch but I didn't exactly do a lot of recon."

"You're the best we have. Besides, I have faith in you."

She and Winston had never been close but the vote of confidence was comforting.

He then launched into an explanation. There was a man she needed to tail, he was very rich and possibly selling weapons to gangs in the area. "We have a room at the resort he is staying at reserved. Think of it as a working vacation. It's on the beach so you might as well enjoy it, besides you'll need to in order to keep your cover."

"And what's my cover?"

He handed her a paper with a profile. She was going to be a rich girl who was using her father's money to take a vacation. It was simple enough that she probably wouldn't have to exercise her lack of acting skills. Plus she supposed she still looked young enough to play the part.

"A boat will be here to pick you up in about an hour. There will be clothes waiting for you when you get there so until then just dress in something inconspicuous."

"How long should I tail this guy?"

"Until we're able to get evidence of his involvement."

"And what if he leaves the resort?"

"Then you follow him. If we're going to make a move we'll need to get proof first. One of us here will be in contact daily, and of course Athena will be available to help."

Valor took a deep breath, she could do this. "Alright, I'll go get ready."

"Good luck, and inform us once you arrive."

Valor went back to her room to pack. She was still living off of the duffle bag she had brought with her. Already she was having a hard time putting together something that looked good enough to belong to someone rich. Her only option was to wear a running jacket and some yoga pants to possibly pass off as just having come from a workout until she could change.

She pulled her white hair into a ponytail and slipped on some sunglasses. Valor double checked that her handgun was concealed and made her way to the docks. It was around ten thirty now, which meant the boat would arrive in about five minutes. She didn't have time to say goodbye to Hana or Jesse, but she reassured herself that she might be able to talk to them during her check-ins.

There was a gentle breeze on the docks which cooled her off from the long walk. In the distance she could hear the loud hum of a boat motor.

Valor clutched her bag tighter, she could do this. It had been so long since she had done anything like this that her anxiety didn't surprise her, what did surprise her was how excited she truly was. She tapped her foot impatiently. Why could she barely contain herself at the thought of a thrilling chase or getting in a fight? Maybe it was because she was finally beginning to feel in control of her powers. Valor knew that was the truth, and thought of improving even more only served to make her more excited. She wanted to show the world that she was worthy of being called a hero.

The boat ride was shorter than she expected, and when her feet hit land she was immediately greeted by a tall man in a suit.

"Ms. Morales."

"That's me, did they send you?"

"Yes, I will take care of anything you require, including getting you checked in to your room."

"Oh, cool." Valor was hardly paying attention, her focus instead drawn to the massive resort.

"I will return shortly with your room card then."

She could see now what they meant when they said that she would blend in the most. The resort was almost exclusively full of young people. All of them very beautiful and very rich, which made her feel like she didn't actually fit in at all.

It made her wonder where her target fit into this place. He was supposed to be in his late forties. But maybe he had a young wife, she considered as she walked away from the beach, towards the pool and closer to the resort.

Valor felt a small tingle in the base of her spine. Her eyes scanned the area casually from behind her sunglasses, looking for a sign of danger. There was nothing, nothing but fancy cocktails and bathing suit clad richies.

On her second sweep her eyes were drawn to a woman lounging on a pool chair.

Valor nearly jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find the tuxedo man who had been hired to help her. "You're all checked in, do you need anything else?"

"No, no thank you." She said quickly and took the key from him.

Valor turned to find the woman gone. Something was off, like she didn't belong here either. It could have been her imagination though, and probably was.

She left the pool, knowing that she needed to let this go for now and inform Winston of her arrival. The resort was vast and it took her awhile to find her room on the third floor. It was almost too beautiful and too fancy for her, and she wondered how the hell they even afforded this. Maybe they had some secret beneficiary, who knows, she wasn't in charge of that.

She traversed the room with tentative steps. The bed was a luxurious California king size with a box of complimentary chocolates lying on the pillow. On the side table were several flyers with activities around the resort. She read parasailing, diving, and helicopter rides before moving on.

Valor was most impressed by the bathroom, which was almost a whole room in and of itself. The tub was jacuzzi style and a bottle of champagne waited on the sink to be opened.

She wanted to explore the balcony next, but duty was literally calling. She answered the cellphone she had been given and confirmed with Winston that she had arrived safely. The conversation was brief and to the point.

Valor sat on her bed with a huff, unsure what to do first. Maybe she would just check out the beach or the pool, the mysterious woman completely unrelated. Besides, it was still early and her first day here, she had plenty of time.

Decision made, she scoped out the closet for what she had been provided with. It was a walk in, of course, and had many options from cocktail dresses to casual wear to even the bathing suit that she needed. A plain black two piece would get the job done, she was more concerned with a mystery suitcase lying in front of the shoes on the floor.

Valor knelt down and popped it open. She recognized an earpiece as important and put it on.

It activated automatically. "Hello, Wight."

"Athena?" Well, Winston had said she would be there to help. "Can you tell me what some of this stuff is?"

"You have been provided with ocular surveillance, several smoke bombs, gps trackers, and med kits."

"Thanks, Athena."

She took out the earpiece and changed into her bathing suit, only remembering at the last minute that she would have to cover up the parasite. With a little digging she was able to find a shawl that was just opaque enough to ensure it wouldn't be seen.

Valor hid her gun and other equipment in the closet, feeling giddy and a bit like a spy in a movie.

After ensuring her room was locked she headed in the direction of the pool. Men and women were laid out tanning, and several lounged on rafts in the water. Unable to go swimming, she instead went in the direction of the bar.

With daiquiri in hand she took up shelter under an umbrella with a good view of the area. If he was here she would see him.

An hour passed and she bought another drink with the fake name and tab she had been given. Valor never knew that relaxing could be so boring. She sipped pathetically at her drink, not only was she bored but she was alone.

"I've never seen someone at a resort look so miserable."

Valor nearly spit out her drink. The woman she had been looking for was standing right before her, hands on her hips. She wore a purple bathing suit that complimented her dark skin. Her eyes were piercing but also held a mischievous glint that Valor found more interesting than any of the pampered people around her.

"I'm kidding," she laughed off Valor's silence and held out her hand, "I'm Rosa, I just happened to see you check in today."

Valor shook her hand, "Veronica."

"So what brings you to this little piece of paradise?"

Valor had to think of an excuse quickly. "Oh, you know, the magazine's all say that this is _the_ place to be."

"Do they? Well I personally find the drinks unimpressive and the people boring." The woman looked off to the ocean and sipped her own drink lazily. "Well, except you."

Valor blinked perplexedly a few times. "Why me?"

"Would it be weird if I said I didn't know?"

She laughed a little, feeling awkward and wanting to get out of the situation. Still, something in her gut told her that this person was important.

Rosa seemed to brush off her awkwardness with a grace Valor wish she possessed. "There is a cocktail party tonight, will you be attending?"

Valor smiled, it would be the perfect place to find the guy she was looking for. Maybe this was the reason she was drawn to this woman, she seemed to have information she needed. "I wouldn't miss it!"

"Wonderful. Well then, what shall we do to alleviate our boredom until this evening?"

She hadn't even thought about what she would do. Honestly, the longer she stayed here the less Valor felt qualified for this job. She took a deep breath and tried to ground herself, everything was going fine so far.

"Hmm," Valor hummed and scanned the area around her, trying desperately to think of something. All that came to mind were the flyers in her room but nothing really sounded appealing.

"You know I think I heard something about yoga classes on the beach or something," Rosa mentioned casually.

Valor couldn't tell if it was just a coincidence or if somehow this woman knew her. She quickly shook it off as being paranoid, it had been awhile since she had been on a mission after all. Besides, the sound of the ocean lapping against the shore was so relaxing that she couldn't resist.

* * *

The cocktail party wasn't until nine, which meant this was going to be another late night for her.

Valor returned to her room at around seven, which gave her plenty of time to get ready. She'd had a wonderful time with Rosa and they even ate lunch together after yoga. After she warmed up to the conversation Valor found that she was funny and charming, but she wouldn't let her fun detract from her mission. She knew better than that.

With all of this extra time, though, she found the bathtub calling her. A bit giddy, she grabbed the chocolates off of the bed and began to run the hot water. In retrospect, it had been such a long time since she had given herself even the smallest "me time". Before Jack had arrived at her apartment her life had been a monotonous blur.

Valor popped a chocolate into her mouth to try and distract herself from the thought of him.

The tub was full and small wisps of steam rose from the water. She stripped and lowered herself into the tub, almost moaning at how good it felt after all of the work she had done the past few days. The large window in the bathroom overlooked the shimmering waves below. Everything about this place was beautiful, but she still wanted to be at the base. Her friends, old and new, were there and she longed for their companionship after so many years alone.

Valor trailed her fingers around the surface of the water slowly, watching as it rippled outward. She gradually stopped her movements. Something was off, and for a moment she couldn't tell what. She inhaled deeply and realised that something in the room smelled familiar.

The scent of leather was there, like a jacket. Which made her think it was probably Jack she was reminded of, but there was something different about it. What began as an undertone was suddenly an overpoweringly acrid, smoky smell.

A cold tingle went up her spine, and she felt like she was being watched. Whatever she had smelled was quickly forgotten. The water was suddenly very cold as she curled her fingers around the rim of the tub, preparing to turn and face whatever was behind her.

There was nothing, just the large bed and the clothes she had thrown on the floor. The balcony door was open though, even though she was sure she had shut it.

By now Valor was done with her bath, unable to escape the cold feeling that lingered in the metal on her spine. She wrapped herself up in a comfy robe and moved to close the balcony doors as well as the curtains.

She was beginning to feel a bit better now that she was hidden away. Again she wondered if it was just paranoia. It was getting late, though, and she had to dress for the party.

The closet in her room held a variety of different clothing, and she was sure that whoever was helping Overwatch spared no expense. She chose a simple maroon dress that was fairly modest as to not reveal the parasite on her spine. Valor then grabbed her gun and a few tracers, just in case she happened to lose sight of her target. That was if he was there at all, she thought glumly. The resort was nice but she didn't want to stay there longer than she had to.

Valor spent the rest of the time she had before the party fixing her hair and makeup to look presentable enough to pass as her cover. Before this she had never realised how hard being a spy could be. When it hit nine she was already ready to crawl into bed. Her late night with Hana along with her nightmares made it difficult to stay awake. She hoped they had some coffee or something.

She made her way leisurely to the ballroom, her heels making her progress slower than usual. There were others making their way there, but they all ignored her for which she was grateful. The only reason she was here was to take care of this mission, not make friends. However, as soon as she saw Rosa waving at her, champagne glass in hand, she wondered if she hadn't already made a friend even with her fake identity.

Valor strode past groups of people, picking up a champagne glass of her own as she walked near a waiter, hopefully looking far more confident than she felt.

"You clean up nice," Rosa commented lightly as she approached.

"I do my best," Valor teased lightly as she scanned the room. Nothing.

"I can tell this isn't your type of party."

"My kind of party involves a little more tequila." She repeated the words Gabe had said to her so many years ago without even thinking about it. Valor downed her glass of champagne in hope that it would kick in quickly and she could forget.

Another glass was in her hand before she could even ask.

"You want to forget something, I get it, just don't make yourself too sick." Rosa said sympathetically.

"It's fine," Valor lied with a smile. Just one more drink, she told herself, just enough to make her forget her former captain.

In the long years since the Swiss headquarters incident there had been plenty of time to mourn Gabriel. It also gave her time understand that he was the only other man she had loved. She would give everything to have him alive today. He had always been there for her, through everything that had happened in Overwatch.

Valor looked around the room to distract herself from the thought of him. The champagne was as dry as the party surrounding her, and the other guests milling about barely served as a distraction at all.

Rosa sighed next to her. "Well this is more boring than I thought it would be."

Valor was glad she wasn't the only one thinking it. Although it didn't surprise her that Rosa didn't enjoy it, she seemed to enjoy higher energy parties.

"Guess we just have to make it better then," Valor grabbed two more glasses for them and they downed them together.

Maybe she had decided to get drunk because she wanted to forget, or maybe it was just because Rosa was easy to let loose around. Mostly everything had just been too much lately. She needed to forget it all just for a little bit. Besides, she doubted her target would show up anyway.

By the time it was eleven she'd had just enough champagne for her whole body to feel tingly. She and Rosa had gotten giggly and were entertaining themselves with making jokes about the people who had begun ballroom dancing, all of whom were acting like they were gods gift to the earth.

She and Rosa joined them on the dance floor, both of them dipping and twirling each other dramatically. They giggled as the others gave them dirty looks at their antics. It was the most fun she'd had in a long time, but before she knew it the party was winding down. However, Rosa convinced her that they didn't have to stop here and led her by hand down to the beach.

A full moon was out and the beach was lit up enough that she could make out others roaming around. They sat on the sand just close enough to the ocean that water lapped at their toes, both not caring about their party dresses as they carelessly tossed their shoes aside.

They laughed and tried making sand snowmen for a while until a larger wave sent the water racing up their legs so that they had to scramble backwards to avoid getting soaked. Valor was so drunk and tired that she leaned against Rosa for support after they had settled down again. Rosa's arm went around her to help, but a shock ran through Valor's spine as her hand brushed over the clothing-covered metal. Valor pulled away, unsure of what had happened.

"Sorry," Rosa apologized innocently, "must have just shocked you a bit."

She felt a bit more sober now though and stood. There was a lingering static feeling on the parasite that made her want to go back to her room and check it out.

"Sorry, I have to go." Valor made a rushed excuse about not feeling well and started to stumble through the sand towards the hotel.

"It's past twelve and you haven't turned into a pumpkin yet, princess!" Rosa called after her, but Valor was determined to get back to her room.

* * *

Sombra sauntered up to her room, completely sober and pleased at her own acting.

Reaper was sitting in a chair in the corner as she entered, right where she expected him to be.

"Your Cinderella's glass slipper," she teased as she tossed the black high heel Valor had forgotten on the beach. He caught it but didn't say anything.

"You know, I really like her. She was a lot of fun." Sombra kicked off her own heels. "I take it you saw her at some point?"

There was a moment of silence before Reaper growled out that he had.

"How cute, I can see why you had a thing for her. I mean she's very pretty Gabe, although a bit of a lightweight when it comes to drinking. I don't think I believed her for a second when she said she wanted tequila, oh and-"

"Did you find out what you needed?" Black wisps of smoke were pouring off of him which told her that she had succeeded in pissing him off.

Sombra gave him a charming smile. "Of course I did, and I think Moira and I will-"

"Then we're leaving." Reaper stood and interrupted her once again.

"You really know how to ruin a girl's fun," she mumbled sourly.

"We aren't here to have fun."

"Maybe _you_ aren't, but fine, let's go back so you can scheme some more even though she's right here."

"There are too many people and we haven't prepared."

"Fine, fine, we'll go back and 'prepare' if that makes you feel better."

He remained silent, his face hidden behind a white mask of impassiveness. She was used to it though, and shrugged off his bad mood. He could pretend all he wanted regarding what this was about, but she knew better.

* * *

Reaper watched as Sombra made her way to the closet to pack up her gear, seemingly not a care in the world.

The mission had gone without a hitch. Overwatch, or what was left of it, hadn't suspected Talon's involvement at all. Which was good because he needed all of this to go right, for several reasons.

Originally it had only been for business. Talon wanted more information on the Overwatch revival, and they wanted a key member to kill in order to send a message. Valor had been their target, and Reaper hadn't had a second thought about it.

Seeing her, though, had woken up a side of him that had remained dormant for far too long. Amidst the fog of years since the fall of Overwatch Gabriel Reyes had rarely felt anything. Pain, yes, there was almost constant pain. Anger too, as it was all that kept him going. He suppressed everything else. It was too hard to be Gabriel Reyes with the voice constantly whispering that he was Reaper.

When he looked at her though, that's who he was. He was Gabriel again. It had been like a shock had gone through him, as if he had been resuscitated once more.

He had been close enough to touch her. Clawed gloves inches away from her inviting, soft skin. She looked exactly the same, which only hurt more. It was as if nothing had changed, and yet he had.

After seeing her he knew that he couldn't kill her. What little of his heart was left still beat for her. She was the only one who saw him for what he was: a good man who had been put in too many unfortunate circumstances.

He convinced the higher-ups at the last second that the parasite on her back would be more valuable to them than her death. They had agreed and Sombra was more than willing to check out the strange piece of technology.

Gabriel felt more like himself than he had in years, which scared him as much as it excited him. He was also reluctant to leave, worried that once she was out of his sight he would revert back to being only Reaper.

One thing he was sure of: he would get her back and make Valor his.

* * *

When Valor returned to her room she couldn't find anything wrong with the parasite no matter how much she stared into the floor length mirror. She would have Winston look at it, she reassured herself, before giving in to the urge to pass out on the bed, still clothed.

She woke with a pounding headache and her phone blaring loudly at the foot of the bed. Valor pushed her hair out of her face with a huff before retrieving the ringing phone.

"Hello?"

"Where have you been?" It was Jack, and he sounded angry.

"Oh, you know, living it up." She replied sarcastically while massaging her forehead. Why couldn't it have been someone else on the phone?

"We don't have time for this, Morales." Oh, that only infuriated her more. "Our informant was a fake, your target doesn't exist we think-"

"Well that explains why I haven't seen him the whole time I've been here," she mumbled and moved to grab a water from the mini-fridge.

"We _think_ it's Talon."

Valor straightened. She knew enough about Talon to know that she didn't want to be anywhere near them. Especially if they knew who she was. She had heard enough about Overwatch agents getting killed off to be concerned.

"Look, a boat will be there in thirty minutes to bring you back. We're undecided if we are going to move bases yet but you need to return _now_."

"Alright, I'll be there." She hung up without a goodbye. The hangover plus Jack's tone was enough to piss her off, not to mention that this had all been a waste of time.

She packed up what little belongings she had and made her way to the docks. It was around noon and the resort was swarming with people. Valor couldn't help but glance around nervously as she walked, hoping that there wasn't a Talon agent following her.

Once she was on the boat she finally relaxed, but that didn't last long.

Jack was at the docks waiting for her when she returned. His arms were folded across his chest, his expression was enough for her to know she had fucked up. Valor gave him her best innocent smile as she tried to walk past him but he grabbed her forearm to stop her.

"You're hungover." It wasn't a question, so she didn't answer.

Could she possibly have died because she got drunk last night? Yes, she knew that now. But that was something she had to deal with, not him. Granted, she had abandoned her mission in the process. That he could be mad about, she deserved that at least.

"Just. Just go, Valor. Give your debriefing to Winston." He let go of her and turned towards the ocean, arms crossed again.

She wanted to feel bad, but he had done this to himself. His bullshit excuse of keeping her safe wouldn't hold up and he was going to have to deal with it. Her life was in just as much danger as it had ever been, this little trip proved as much.

Valor stalked up the hill, not looking back. She headed for her bunk. Her thoughts strayed to Talon, the biggest threat to them all right now. She wondered if they were going to move bases or just increase security. The decision would probably be left with the group, they were few enough in numbers that it was easier to put things to a vote.

If it were up to her they would leave to another base. If they were going to face Talon they would need the upper hand. It was already clear to her that Talon had more information than they did, even if Winston had confirmed that none of the files had been stolen.

Valor entered her room, tossing her duffle bag on the floor at the foot of the bed. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail and ran her fingers through the locks as she sat down. Talon had to have gotten _something_ from their attack here. She highly doubted that Reaper would leave empty handed, he had a bit of a reputation after all.

Something wasn't adding up.

Valor hadn't been entirely idle after the fall of Overwatch, and had her own connections for information. She would contact them soon and see just what she could find about what Talon was planning.


	11. Chapter 11

Welcome all new followers! Hope you've enjoyed the story so far! I'm looking forward sharing many more chapters with you.

* * *

Valor was lost.

Jack had left her, and she had barely left her room since. She was still on sick leave, though for how much longer she wasn't sure. Valor wanted it to be forever.

She would leave for food in the late hours of the night when no one was around to see her unkempt appearance. McCree had stop coming to her room after the first few nights she had kept her door locked. Valor would feel bad about it later, but all she cared about right now was her own pain. Gabe had come by, but after she refused him entrance several times he too stopped trying to reach her.

Valor curled up under her warm covers. She wanted to cry, but by now all of her tears seemed to have dried up. Her chest ached, and so did her empty stomach for that matter. All she could think of was Jack: his face, his voice, all of the intimate moments they had shared, every time they had laughed together. It truly felt like the world just wanted her to be unhappy. It had made her a freak, thrown her into a war, and if that wasn't enough it broke her heart too.

A loud knock on the door interrupted her wallowing. She ignored it and turned away to face the window, although it was blacked out by curtains.

"Valor!" She was surprised to find that it was Gabe. "Valor, listen, I know you can hear me. This has gone on for long enough you have to come out."

She remained silent, willing him to go away so that she could just lay there pitying herself forever.

"I don't want to do it but I will break down this door." He wasn't shouting, but she could still hear him as if he was inside the room.

Valor groaned and rolled over. This wasn't worth a broken door.

She opened the door with a fake smile in place, wanting him to just leave her be. "Can I help you?"

Valor realised she must have looked pretty unconvincing. She couldn't remember the last time she had combed her hair or changed out of her pajamas. Gabriel clearly wasn't buying it.

"Put on some clothes, we're going for a run." His arms were folded across his chest and he wore and expression that told her 'no' wasn't going to be an option.

"Yes, sir." Valor fake saluted and trudged back towards her bed.

She didn't bother turning as the door closed behind her.

"Okay we don't have to run, but would you at least talk to me?" Gabe sounded strangely defeated. "You've been locked away for weeks. If it's about the mission-"

Valor rounded on him. "It is _not_ about the mission."

"Then what?" He walked closer and put a hand on her shoulder. "No one knows what happened, just that you suddenly disappeared from our lives."

"He didn't tell you?" Valor hadn't thought her heart could sink any further. Jack hadn't even told his best friend, maybe because he knew Gabe would try to knock some sense into him.

She turned away and walked a few steps. Her hand covered her mouth as she struggled to breath evenly, knowing that if she said it, it would only make it more real.

"Jack left me, Gabriel."

Valor hadn't started crying as she expected, rather she just felt very numb. She stayed facing away from Gabe, not wanting him to see her turmoil.

Warm arms suddenly enveloped her from behind, squeezing her tightly. She couldn't stop her tears.

Gabriel didn't know if he should be ecstatic or devastated by the news. It was clear that Valor wasn't coping well. She turned to hug him back, and he could hear her soft, sniffling cry.

"It will be alright, cariña." He whispered softly. Gabe gently rubbed her lower back as she cried, "Jack isn't the only man in the world."

He hoped he had said the right thing, and despite several selfish intentions it was honestly the truth. Gabe didn't know what possessed Jack to do something as stupid as leaving Valor, but he did know he wouldn't make the same mistake as his friend.

Valor pulled away slightly, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. "Sorry, gross, I didn't mean to cry all over you." She said, dabbing at a slightly wet spot on his shoulder with her other sleeve.

Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle a little at her needless concern. "That is the least of my worries, trust me."

His main concern was her. He had been going crazy not knowing what was wrong for so long, and Jack had been more than happy to keep him in the dark. Gabe had suspected the mission as the cause, but this was almost worse. Worse in that he didn't want to see Valor so torn up and better because this gave him an opportunity.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"It's not like I wanted to go around announcing that my relationship just ended," Valor mumbled.

"Alright, fair, but you know I'm here right? For anything. And hey, if you need me to rough up the commander a little you just say the word." He was mostly teasing about the last bit, although he _was_ fucking pissed at Jack.

"Nah," she shrugged and looked away, "not worth the effort."

Valor walked past him and sat on the bed, seemingly lost in thought. He didn't say anything for a minute. Gabe simply watched her, took her in. He too had been desperately close to losing her on the last mission. If she or McCree had died while he was off doing something else he would never have been able to forgive himself.

"The team misses you, you know. We even got a few new faces around since you've been locked in here."

"I miss them too, Jesse especially." After a moment she buried her face in her hands. "I shouldn't have left him like that. It was so selfish of me."

Gabe strode over and sat next to her on the bed, heart pounding as he took her hand in his. "It's alright, we're here to help Jesse too. You don't have to take every burden on yourself, Valor."

She held his hand tightly. "Do you think he blames me?"

"Jesse? No, but I get the feeling you're blaming yourself for all of this."

Valor smiled ruefully. "Of course I do. If I had just been able to touch both of them none of us would have been hurt. If I had saved us Jack wouldn't have left me."

She'd had far too much time to think this over. Insomnia plagued her every night as she ran through the mission over and over. When she could sleep her dreams were constantly replaying the memory of holding Jesse, the blood covering her hands from his missing arm and the strong stench of copper in the air. Gabriel hadn't been there, but if he had she was sure he would blame her too.

"Listen," he still held her hand but wrapped his other arm around her waist, "as your captain I will say that it was not your fault. We went in without enough information, we split up unevenly, and there was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened." Gabe squeezed her hand as she rested her head on his shoulder. "As your friend I will say that I _know_ it wasn't your fault. Despite everything the best thing to do is move on."

"Move on to what? More missions where I put my friends lives in danger?"

"Your squad knows the risks, Valor, just like you do. If you want to know what I think, I think they are safer with you around to watch their backs. I trust you with my life, and so do they."

Valor groaned and fell back onto the bed. As much as she didn't want to admit it Gabriel was actually helping. She had needed to get all of this out, and needed for someone to talk some sense into her.

"How do I just go back to missions, Gabe?"

"One at a time."

"Helpful," Valor mumbled sourly as she watched Gabriel lay on his side next to her, head propped up by his hand.

"It's as easy as taking one step after another. You just jump in and try not to think about it."

"Even that sounds like too much right now."

Gabriel looked away from her for a moment and then back, as if debating on mentioning something.

"Listen," he began carefully, "there is a mission in two days. I'm not going to pressure you or make you go, but think about it okay? We can get you back on your feet and you can meet the new members of the squad."

The thought of meeting new agents did pique her curiosity. Despite her heartache and worries she was really tired of only seeing the four walls of her room.

Gabriel laid next to her quietly as she internally deliberated. She was grateful that he had come to comfort her. As much as she loved all of her friends in Overwatch she knew that he was the only one who could have helped make her feel better.

Valor turned onto her side to face him. "Thanks for being here, Gabe. I don't know what I'd do without you."

He smiled softly at her. "There is no place I would rather be."

They laid there, just sort of looking at each other for a while. If someone had told Valor on her first day in Overwatch that she would be laying side by side on her bed with her captain right now she wouldn't have believed them. Everything had changed so quickly though and she had found a family here, Gabe included. She didn't know how she could live without any of them.

"Hey, Gabe." Valor took a deep breath, hoping that she wouldn't regret this. "I'll go."

* * *

Valor paced back and forth in the hangar. She was about an hour early, but she hadn't been able to stand being in her room any longer. No one else had arrived yet and she regretted not just finding Jesse so that they could keep each other company while they waited.

She checked the large clock on the wall about once every three minutes, watching as it slowly dwindled down from forty to thirty to twenty. Valor was relieved when Gabriel was the first to arrive.

"How long have you been here?"

She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Like thirty minutes."

"And how are you holding up? You know you don't have to do this." Concern was written across his face.

"Yeah, but I should do it. I guess I'm holding up as well as you'd expect." She wrung her clammy hands nervously together. "But it's fine. I know that when we get there I'll be fine." Valor wasn't sure if she was reassuring him or herself, but saying it out loud at least made her feel better.

"I'll be with you the whole time," he put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

Movement across the hangar caught her eye. A woman she had never met was making a beeline towards them. She assumed it was one of the new agents Gabriel had mentioned. She strode over, greeting them with an easy, collected smile.

"You must be Valor, it is a pleasure to finally meet you." She extended her hand, "Moira."

Valor shook her hand. "That's me. I guess I didn't know I had a reputation."

"Moira is the new medical officer for Blackwatch. With all of the new agents flooding in recently Angela can't keep up with everything," Gabe said.

"Ah," it seemed to make sense now, "so you've heard about the parasite then."

"Of course. I would be delighted to examine it later actually, if you wouldn't mind." Moira still held the same even expression, but a slight lilt in her voice gave away her excitement.

"Sure, the more we know about it the better I'm sure." She saw no harm in it. If Moira was their new medic then Valor figured it would be best if she familiarized herself with it anyways.

"Splendid. I look forward to working with you."

McCree entered not long after their conversation. He approached her, giving her a slight nod of greeting as he made to stand beside her. Valor promised herself that they would have a long talk and she would apologise when they got back.

The second stranger was the last to arrive. Valor had to look twice, as cybernetics covered all of his body except for a bit of his face. As he stalked over she had to admit he looked very deadly, and angry. He was probably the closest thing to what she had pictured when she heard the name Blackwatch: dark and brooding.

She took a deep breath. Surely she was misjudging him based on appearances, but he quickly proved her wrong.

"Hi, I'm Valor." She extended her hand, trying to show the same courtesy Moira had given her.

"Is that a real name?" He didn't move to take her hand while hers remained held out for an awkwardly long time.

Valor blinked, completely taken off guard by the question. "I-yes?"

He looked her up and down, and as if not deeming her worthy of his attention looked away. "Genji."

Valor supposed that was the worst introduction she'd ever had. Well, maybe except for Jack and Gabe finding her half-sane in a warehouse. However this was far more embarrassing.

After that awkward conversation all eyes turned to their captain, as if praying for him to end the silence that was smothering the room.

"Alright, we have a mission to do."

Gabriel led them onto the plane where they quickly dispersed to different corners.

Valor sat alone, out of sight from everyone. Every second she waited was another second of misery. The anticipation was driving her crazy. That, and the fact that she knew nothing about this mission.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Maybe Gabriel had been wrong, maybe she shouldn't have come. Her nerves would do nothing but get in the way.

Her captain saved her from her own thoughts as he poked his head around the little alcove of storage boxes she had hidden behind. Valor looked up at him, trying to look less miserable than she felt.

"Mind if I join you?"

She patted the spot on the floor next to her and he moved to sit.

"I think Genji hates me," Valor spoke up first, unsure if there was anything she could say to Gabe about her anxieties that hadn't already been said.

He looked at her sympathetically. "Genji is a special case. I can't disclose everything, obviously, but let's just say it wasn't his choice to get all of those cybernetics."

"I know the feeling," she grumbled. From her vantage point she had been able to see the others through a gap in the boxes. Valor could see Genji, arms folded and looking away from her direction. Everything but his face seemed to be inhuman, and she could scarcely imagine being forced to lose so much of oneself. "That's unfair," she said after a moment, "the parasite didn't change me that much."

Gabe gave her a sceptical look, "It did almost kill you."

She shrugged, maybe it was unfair to compare herself to Genji. Perhaps in a different world she might have felt a sort of kinship to him, but in this reality all she felt was pity.

"I didn't come here to talk about Genji." Gabe's voice was suddenly serious. "Things have happened since you've been away, and it's getting worse."

Valor watched as his fists clenched, his gaze remained pointedly on the floor. "What? Was there an attack?"

"Yes, but not by omnics. Talon blew up a base in Rome. McCree and I barely escaped, many others were not so lucky."

Valor stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment. "Why was Jesse there?"

Gabe's fists clenched tighter. "Just a coincidence, he just came along for a routine meeting."

She sat in silence for a moment before taking her captain's hand. Valor squeezed it tightly, unable to will the thought away that she could have lost them both while she had laid in her room hiding from the world.

"Jack doesn't think we should do anything without the UN's approval."

"What? But they attacked first! If they're a threat we should take them out."

Gabriel held out his hand as if to say 'that's what I've been trying to tell him'.

"Well why then? Why is Talon untouchable?"

"Connections in the government it looks like. Overwatch won't do anything unless the UN says so, and the only other option is to build a case for our target."

Valor leaned her head back against the metal wall behind her, ignoring the vibrations of the plane. She hadn't expected all of this for her first mission back, but it seemed like Gabe really needed her for this one, and not only for her powers. It made her glad she had decided to come.

"Building a case could take forever, and I'm sure Talon has employed some sort of hacker to get rid of evidence. So what are we going to do?"

Gabriel finally looked over at her, appearing relieved. "I have to admit I wasn't sure you would agree."

"Not that I was completely myself then, but I did kill those criminals back home. You didn't see me waiting for the police to do it."

"Fair enough. Well, we're not killing anyone yet. We'll get to Venice and take our target in for questioning, maybe just speed up that formal investigation a bit."

"Jack doesn't even want us to do this does he?"

"No."

She shook her head, trying to ignore the growing rift between her, Jack, and Gabriel. "That's fine, it doesn't matter anyways."

* * *

Valor sat face to face with Gabriel, her knees touching his in the cramped cabin of the helicopter they had switched to. Jesse sat next to her, his leg bouncing with energy, and Moira and Genji sat opposite each other, faces expressionless.

She felt better now that she was suited up and armed, and even more so that she knew what the mission was. The cause itself gave her more determination than she'd had before.

They were close to the compound now, and the stealth helicopter set down in grass about a mile away. Valor exited first and was greeted by the crisp evening air. The others filed out after her. Walking there didn't take long, and no words were spoken as she moved towards the entrance of the compound.

Valor already knew her duty. She would take out whatever guards their target had posted at the gates in order to open them and let her team in.

She had expected several obstacles, but there was only one man guarding the gate controls. It showed how overconfident their target was that they wouldn't touch him, which only pissed her off more. Too many evil men got away with these things, and she would be happy to bring them to justice.

Valor opened the gate and watched as the others approached out of the darkness, swift and silent. Gabe had plotted out the fastest route, through the East building which would lead right to their target's study. They would be in and out.

Gabriel led them with Valor close behind. The others fanned out through the building to make sure that they wouldn't be taken off guard.

"Doing alright?" Her captain asked quietly as they walked.

"Yes." She was. All she had to do was focus on the mission.

They were about halfway through the building now, and had faced little to no resistance. Although by the sounds of fighting coming from the other rooms she assumed the others had met some. She and Gabriel were about to pass a room when voices picked up in it. Valor pulled him back, and by his confused expression she could tell he hadn't heard them.

She peeked around the corner at the room. The door was propped open so they couldn't just sneak past. Valor listened closely to the voices trying to determine how many enemies there were. After a moment she held up four fingers.

"Just enough for both of us," Gabe whispered.

"Let me phase us through the wall," she offered, partially wanting to test whether she could do it again, "we can catch them off guard."

"You sure?"

She nodded. If this actually was one of her powers it would be very useful. "Be ready to shoot as soon as you're in." Valor knew she was used to phasing by now, but wasn't sure how it would affect other people. She certainly hadn't had time to ask Jack about it.

Valor grabbed her captain's shoulder before pulling him along. They slipped through the wall as easily as they would through air. Her shots barely rang out while the blasts from Gabe's shotguns would have been deafening without her ear protection. Now whole room was quiet except for the small hiss as the cooling system kicked in for her rapidly heating parasite.

"Amazing." Gabe's shotguns were held limply at his side as he just looked at her. Three shots had rung out from her pistol and three bodies matched them. He had seen her work, but rarely on actual missions with her.

"I'm sure my victims find it far less amazing," she commented lightly as she stepped over the bodies towards the door.

"I'm sure there are worse things to see before you die."

Valor smiled at the compliment. "Maybe your ugly mug," she teased.

Gabriel opened his mouth to retort, but Genji appeared in the hallway to report that everything was clear. Moira and Jesse quickly joined them as they made their way to the study.

Valor couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the security, although maybe the others had just taken care of it already. Either way, the fact that there were no guards covering the study made her uneasy. At first she had thought their target simply didn't think they would act, but now she wondered if he was really just a step ahead of them.

Gabriel pushed open the doors which banged loudly as they hit the wall. They walked in together, Valor hanging towards the back to watch the hall.

The target greeted Gabriel casually, in a way that made her skin crawl. He was far too calm considering they had infiltrated the compound and killed his men. Valor clenched and unclenched her fist, trying to keep her hand away from her gun. They were only here to bring him in for questioning, after all, she couldn't get carried away.

"How will this look on the news, I wonder. Overwatch unlawfully abducting a respected businessman?"

She forced herself to look at the hallway again. Pretending she was keeping watch was easier than facing the man who was talking to her captain, to _Gabriel_ , like that.

No one spoke, and so the target continued on. "Even if you took me now my contacts could have me out within the week."

Her nails began digging into her palms. If he continued on she couldn't promise she wouldn't shoot him. She hated people who thought they could get away with everything, but the fact that Gabriel and Jesse could have died in Rome really fueled her.

"All of these... _theatrics,_ have been a waste of our time."

Her fingers brushed the cold metal of her gun. If Overwatch took him in for questioning she knew that he would get away just as he predicted.

"You're right." Valor looked up, surprised at Gabe's words for a moment before the blast from his shotgun rang out.

An alarm began to blare from within the compound. Her gun was already in her hand and she could see Genji reaching for his sword.

"Reyes, what did you do?"

"You heard him, Jesse, if we took him in he would just slip away." She was surprised at his outburst, but Valor felt the need to defend Gabriel.

"This wasn't the plan." Jesse had wanted to kill him too, but someone had to say something. They weren't prepared to face whatever Talon was about to throw at them, and Reyes was needlessly putting their lives in more danger.

"Then we're going with Plan B. We have get out before the whole compound comes down on us."

Valor looked at Gabriel. He seemed just as calm as before, like he had expected this outcome. As she looked around she realised at neither Genji or Moira seemed perturbed by the change in plans either. Honestly, neither was she. The more Antonio had talked, the further he had dug himself into his own grave.

They ran back down to the entryway of the building only to find it sealed.

"We have to find some way to breach it or we'll be trapped in here," Gabriel announced.

"They're coming from the ceiling!" Valor yelled a moment before she tackled Moira to the side to avoid her being crushed by one of the guards repelling down.

"Any ideas about that door?" Jesse called amidst the fighting.

"I'll get us through!" Valor called out, her elbow smashing into the faceplate of a guard that had grabbed her from behind. She phased through him and made a clean shot to his head.

"Everyone grab onto Wight and be ready to follow her outside!" Gabriel called over the din.

She rushed towards the door. Valor didn't know if she could phase them all at once, but more guards were pouring in. She didn't have a choice; there wouldn't be enough time to bring them through one by one.

Jesse's hand met her shoulder first while he fired at enemies with his other. Moira came next, then Genji. Only after everyone was ready did Gabe sprint over. When his hand finally grabbed hers she moved, pulling them all along with her.

As they emerged outside her knees met the concrete, her back in agony. The cooling system working overtime seemed loud to her ears as she tried to catch her breath.

"Incredible." Valor heard Moira breath.

Gabriel knelt down beside her, so close she could feel his breath on her ear. "Can you keep going?"

She nodded and took his hand to help her up. Her back was on fire, but at least she had gotten them out. Gabe sent her worried looks as they moved on, but any pain she was in was quickly being drowned out either by adrenaline or the parasite.

"Where are we going?" Jesse asked as they ran.

"We have to get out of the compound first, then we go through the city to the extraction point."

"Sniper!" Genji called, and they all lunged for cover.

Valor's heart pounded as she wondered if she would be able to pull herself together enough to make it to the sniper.

"Should I-"

"Let Genji do it." The concern hadn't left Gabriel's expression.

Valor peeked out from her hiding spot to find the cyborg standing out in the open. She wanted to call out to him but Gabe put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

It was over in a flash. She had barely registered Genji pulling out his sword before it was back in its sheath and the sniper collapsed. Her hand went to her mouth, wondering if what she had seen had actually happened. She had never seen someone deflect a bullet before, much less back to the person who had shot it.

Her gaze strayed up to Gabe and he shrugged. "Told ya."

She had been so ready to act that it made her wonder if Gabe was right. Maybe she didn't let herself rely on others enough.

They were on the move again before she could think about it any more. As the city rushed past her Valor had a moment to lament the fact that she couldn't fully enjoy it. It was short-lived, as they were quickly forced to take refuge in an art gallery.

Valor found herself crouching behind cover next to Moira. In the opposite corner she could hear Jesse still arguing with Gabriel.

"So, find yourself in situations like these often?" She asked, mostly trying to keep her own mood light despite the circumstances.

Moira looked over at her, still seemingly unperturbed by the almost constant firefight. "I've spent most of my time in a lab," a small smile twitched at the corner of her lips, "although I have been doing much more field work with Blackwatch. I have to say, it's refreshing."

Valor leaned out from the cover and fired at the last two opponents that the others hadn't yet taken out before standing. "Ah yes, nothing more refreshing than being shot at," she teased before offering Moira her hand.

The healer took it and stood almost languidly. "You don't seem to have very much trouble with it," she commented as the two made to join the others.

"That would all be the parasite."

"And yet it could not exist without its host. You hold all of the power, not the other way around."

Valor paused in the middle of reloading. She hadn't expected such a sincere response from Moira. Angela had tried to remove it, Ana had wanted to suppress her in case it took over, but Moira seemed to genuinely think she should embrace it. Even with the powers it had always seemed like a curse, but now she was filled with hope that it could be different. _That_ was refreshing.

"Come on! Let's move before they're on us again!" Gabe's voice called to them, cutting her off before she could think of a response.

Valor finished reloading and returned her thoughts to the enemies closing around them on her radar. The longer they ran the more she wondered how much manpower Talon had. Their forces seemed endless, and she was quickly running out of ammo. Valor hoped the others were faring better. At the very least the extraction point was drawing closer; she could see it shining like a gold beacon on her HUD.

They had been running for nearly twenty minutes now without break except to fight. Valor knew they would make it out, at the very least she would make sure her team made it even if she didn't.

The extraction point was getting closer by the second. As they drew near the amount of enemies only grew. They fought off wave after wave, Valor counting her rounds until she was only left with one. The fighting died down for a moment as they reached the point near one of the waterways of Venice.

Valor breathed a heavy sigh, she could hear the sound of a helicopter in the distance. They had made it. She looked up to inform Gabriel but he was looking at McCree, distracted by a malfunction in his metal arm.

A flicker of movement behind Gabe caught her attention. They had missed an enemy.

Her heart pounded. Gabriel hadn't noticed so she raised her own pistol level with the soldier, only to find that she had miscounted. The empty shot never fired.

The enemy was injured, accounting for her missing bullet, but hadn't gone down. She could only watch helplessly as they leaned against a building for support, struggling to lift their gun. Valor willed her frozen body to move, she had to save them. She could hear each thud of her own heartbeat in her ears.

She knew she would be too slow, that she was too far away and there wouldn't be enough time for them to react. For a moment Valor could almost see them, bleeding out at her feet while she stood helplessly. She couldn't lose them, she _had_ to move.

One second she was running towards them, the next she was behind them and the enemy. Her chest heaved as she breathed, trying to make sense out of why everything had gone quiet except for the beating of her own heart.

Her senses came flooding back to her. The night breeze cooled the sweat pouring down her neck, making her shiver. A hot wetness was spreading on her hand and she numbly looked down. Blood was leaking down her hand and splattering on the ground.

Its source was a heart, still writhing in her hand.

* * *

Gabriel sat in a meeting room, feet kicked up on the table as he watched Jack pace in front of him. They had just finished watching a recording from the mission.

It was only the two of them there, probably so Jack could chew him out without an audience. He had expected something like this and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for the commander to speak first. Gabriel had no regrets about the mission, in fact he thought it had gone better than expected.

"Why did you bring her?"

Gabe looked up in surprise. He hadn't expected him to bring her up, especially since he had been so tight-lipped about everything these past couple of weeks. "It's about time she started missions again, and as you could see she was far from helpless."

Jack continued to walk back and forth in front of him. "Yes, I saw, and you're lucky the rest of the world didn't get their hands on this footage."

"They already know it was us who killed Antonio, why does the vid matter?"

The commander faced him, expression incredulous as he ran an exasperated hand over his face. "You watched her rip a man's heart out and you don't know why?"

"She saved me and Jesse."

"That's not the point! Valor already isn't loved by the public. If they knew about this they would be horrified to know we have her in Overwatch."

"Blackwatch," Gabriel corrected him. He wasn't sure why Jack was getting all worked up in the first place. About the mission sure, but he had no right to be concerned about Valor's well being anymore. Gabe could take care of that himself.

"Not anymore."

"What?"

Jack finally stopped pacing and faced him again. "I'm pulling her from Blackwatch. It will be final tomorrow."

Gabriel was on his feet before he could stop himself. "You can't."

He could feel heat rising from his neck up to his ears. Jack could play at commander of Overwatch all he wanted but Blackwatch was under _his_ command. In this instance, though, Gabe knew he was powerless. If Jack wanted to do this he couldn't stop him.

"The decision has already been made. She'll be moved to her new squad in the morning." Jack's tone was cold and final, leaving no room for argument.

Gabe had never foreseen this result. Jack could be mad at him all he wanted but dragging Valor into this was unfair. She was already in a fragile state after the mission, so clearly he didn't care at all about how _she_ might feel about this decision.

"You're going to make her hate you."

"It doesn't matter if she hates me. I just need to make sure she's safe, and I don't think she's safe with you anymore, Reyes."

* * *

I'm excited! Valor's ult "Heartbreaker" has been revealed! More will definitely be explained in the next chapter. I also don't want to do the thing where I include the whole cast from the game, but characters that Valor is realistically likely to encounter will show up (hence Genji and Moira). Thank you so much for reading and I am making a new year resolution to reply to more comments because I love interacting with you guys.


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